Krishna Janmashtami celebrates the birth of Krishna, revered as the eighth avatara (descent) of the god Vishnu and, for his devotees, the supreme Lord in his own right. It falls on the eighth day (ashtami) of the dark fortnight of the month of Bhadrapada (August-September). The narrative, drawn above all from the Bhagavata Purana, sets his birth in a prison in Mathura, where his parents Devaki and Vasudeva are held by the tyrant Kamsa, who has been warned that their child will destroy him; born at midnight, the infant is miraculously carried across the flooded Yamuna to safety in Gokul, to be raised among the cowherds.
The festival's worship follows the story's clock. Devotees fast through the day and keep vigil until midnight, the hour of the birth, which is greeted with the ringing of bells, blowing of conches, devotional singing (bhajan and kirtan), and the unveiling and cradle-rocking of an image of the infant Krishna, who is then bathed, dressed and fed. Temples, especially in the Krishna heartland, hold elaborate all-night celebrations. The day honours Krishna as teacher of the Bhagavad Gita, protector, and the divine embodiment of love and play, and its keeping of the midnight birth makes the worshipper a participant in the descent of the divine into the world.