It is widely celebrated across India and abroad. The celebratory customs associated with Janmashtami include a celebration festival, reading and recitation of religious texts, dance and enactments of the life of Krishna according to the Bhagavata Purana, devotional singing till midnight (the time of Krishna's birth), and fasting ( upavasa), amongst other things. It is an important festival, particularly in the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism.
This overlaps with August or September of the Gregorian calendar. Krishna's birth is celebrated and observed on the eighth day ( Ashtami) of the dark fortnight ( Krishna Paksha) in Shravana Masa (according to the amanta tradition) or Bhadrapada Masa (according to the purnimanta tradition).
In certain Hindu texts, such as the Gita Govinda, Krishna has been identified as supreme God and the source of all avatars. Krishna Janmashtami ( Sanskrit: कृष्णजन्माष्टमी, romanized: Kṛṣṇajanmāṣṭamī), also known simply as Krishnashtami, Janmashtami, or Gokulashtami, is an annual Hindu festival that celebrates the birth of Krishna, the eighth avatar of Vishnu.
