Festivals · 2027

Krishna Janmashtami 2027: The Computed Date, Tithi and Muhurat

Krishna Janmashtami 2027 is on Wednesday, 25 August. Ashtami runs from 8:25 PM on the 24th to 7:20 PM on the 25th, so midnight — the nishita moment when Krishna is held to have been born — falls inside it. The Smarta tradition keeps the night Ashtami actually holds midnight; the Vaishnava tradition prefers the following sunrise-linked day. Both are on this page, with the window they are read from.

Quick answer: Krishna Janmashtami 2027 is on Tuesday 24 August 2027 by the household (Smarta) rule, because the Ashtami holds midnight on the night of the 24th; Vaishnava temples and ISKCON keep it on Wednesday 25 August 2027, when the Ashtami is at sunrise and Rohini nakshatra joins in the evening. Computed tithi window 24-08-2027 20:25–25-08-2027 19:20 IST, nishita (true midnight) rule.

By Dr. R.P. Sharma, Vedic astrologer since 1979 · timings computed on real sidereal positions

Krishna Janmashtami 2027 is on Tuesday 24 August 2027 by the household (Smarta) rule, because the Ashtami holds midnight on the night of the 24th; Vaishnava temples and ISKCON keep it on Wednesday 25 August 2027, when the Ashtami is at sunrise and Rohini nakshatra joins in the evening. The governing tithi — the midnight birth of Shri Krishna on Bhadrapada Krishna Ashtami — runs from 24-08-2027 20:25 IST to 25-08-2027 19:20 IST, computed from the ephemeris with the Lahiri ayanamsa, the way a Panchang actually derives it. The observance follows nishita (true midnight).

The two-tradition note: the smarta puja is kept in the night the Ashtami holds nishita, while Vaishnava parampara keeps the following day — both dates you will see in public calendars are correct within their own rule. The tithi window above lets you place your family’s tradition exactly.

How this date is fixed

Hindu observances are set by the panchang, not the Gregorian calendar — which is why the date moves each year and can fall a day either side of India for families abroad.

How the day is kept

The vrat runs through the day and the puja is kept at nishita — the true midnight — when the birth is celebrated with abhisheka, bhajan and the breaking of the fast per one's family tradition.

Why the tithi window matters more than the date

A Hindu festival is not a civil date; it is a tithi caught at a particular quality of time — nishita (true midnight) here. When the tithi straddles two days, the rule decides the day, which is why two neighbouring calendars sometimes disagree while both cite the same sky. The window printed above is the actual astronomy; the rule applied to it is the tradition. Together they give you the answer the forwards never explain. For the method itself, see our muhurat & festivals guide.

See also: Surya Grahan 2027 In India Date And Time.

Correction, 25 September 2026: An earlier question on this page gave wrong times for the 2 August 2027 solar eclipse; it has been removed. From India that eclipse is partial and in the afternoon — verified timings are on our Surya Grahan 2027 page.