Govatsa Dwadashi 2026

About Govatsa Dwadashi

Govatsa Dwadashi falls on the Dwadashi of the dark half of Kartik in the purnimanta calendar, which is the dark half of Ashvin in the amanta calendar of western and southern India. It comes the day before Dhanteras, which is usually two days before Diwali. Go means cow and vatsa means calf, and the day is kept to thank the cow and her calf, long seen in Indian homes as givers of nourishment and as a picture of a mother's care. The cow honoured is often thought of as Nandini, the daughter of the wish-giving cow Kamadhenu.

In Maharashtra the day is called Vasu Baras and it opens the Diwali festival. Rangoli appears at the door and the first lamps are lit. In Gujarat the same day is known as Vagh Baras and is likewise counted among the Diwali days. The name Bach Baras is used in parts of north India for a cow and calf day, though some regions keep Bach Baras in Bhadrapada instead, so local custom decides which one a family follows.

The puja is done at dusk, the hour when cattle walk home from the fields. A cow and her calf are bathed, decorated with turmeric, kumkum, flowers and a garland, and offered fresh grass, jaggery and wheat or millet rotis. Women perform aarti for them and pray for the wellbeing of their own children and household. Those who have no cow at home often visit a goshala or a neighbour's cow, or worship a small clay image of a cow and calf.

Many women keep a fast on this day. In several regions the custom is to avoid milk, curd and other cow's products, and in some homes wheat as well, eating instead dishes of millet, sprouted moong and other grains, so that the calf has its full share of milk.

The day is chosen by the Dwadashi tithi present at dusk, since that is when the puja is done.