Balaram Jayanti 2027: Date, the Story of Balarama, and Baldev Chhath in Braj

Balaram Jayanti 2027: key dates

When is Balaram Jayanti 2027?

Balaram Jayanti 2027 is on Monday, 23 August 2027, on Bhadrapada Krishna Shashthi, the sixth day of the dark fortnight of the month of Bhadrapada, about two days before Krishna Janmashtami. This is the mainstream North India and Braj date, kept as Baldev Chhath and as the farmers' festival of Hal Shashti. As set out in the note above, some Gaudiya and ISKCON devotees instead keep Balarama's appearance on the earlier Shravana Purnima as Balarama Purnima, so you may see an earlier date; follow your own tradition. In Braj, the festival is dearest at the Dauji temple in Baldeo, Balarama's town and a mathura vrindavan tour with Experience My India can bring you there for it.

From the ground (Gurudutt): Balaram Jayanti is Dauji's own day and nowhere is it kept like at Baldeo, his town, where the great deity is bathed in the abhishekam and the Dadhikando is played, curd and turmeric flying, in his joy. Two days later comes his little brother Krishna's Janmashtami, so these are the sweetest days in Braj. And in the villages our mothers keep the Hal Shashti vrat for their children, worshipping the plough and the earth. Come to Baldeo for Dauji's appearance; I will take you. Radhe Radhe, Jai Dauji.

Who is Lord Balarama?

Balaram Jayanti celebrates the appearance of Lord Balarama, dear to all Braj:

• Krishna's elder brother. Lord Balarama, also called Baladeva, Balabhadra and, in Braj, Dauji or Dau Bhaiya, the beloved elder, is the elder brother of Lord Krishna, his constant companion and protector in the leelas of Braj; the two brothers are worshipped together across the land of Krishna.

• An avatar of Adi Sesha. Balarama is revered as an avatar of Adi Sesha, also called Ananta, the divine thousand-headed serpent upon whom Lord Vishnu rests; so he is the Lord's own eternal companion, come to earth to assist Krishna and is worshipped as a form of the Supreme.

• Haladhara, the holder of the plough. Balarama is known as Haladhara and Halayudha, the holder and wielder of the plough, hala, his chief weapon and emblem; the plough marks him as the lord of strength and of the earth and its tilling, which is why he is so dear to farmers.

The story of Balarama's birth

Balarama's appearance is itself a wonder of the Krishna story. He was conceived as the seventh child of Devaki and Vasudeva, in the prison of the cruel king Kamsa, who had vowed to kill Devaki's children. To save the divine child from Kamsa's wrath, the Lord's power miraculously transferred the embryo from the womb of Devaki to the womb of Rohini, another wife of Vasudeva, who was living in Gokul in Braj; and so Balarama was born in safety to Rohini at Gokul, a little before his brother Krishna. Because he was thus drawn and transferred, he is called Sankarshana; and his birth in Braj makes the land of Gokul and Baldeo doubly dear. The gokul where he was born and the old Gokul of gokul vs mahavan, are a short way from his town of Baldeo.

Balaram Jayanti in Braj: Baldev Chhath at Dauji, Baldeo

Nowhere is Balaram Jayanti kept like in Braj, at Balarama's own town of Baldeo:

• The Dauji Maharaj temple. The festival is celebrated with immense fervour at the famous Shri Dauji Maharaj temple in Baldeo, about 21 km from Mathura, the great temple of Balarama, where the tall dark-stone deity of Dauji is worshipped with his consort Revati Ji; it is the heart of Balarama devotion in Braj.

• The abhishekam and the Dadhikando. On the day, the deity is honoured with a grand abhishekam, the ceremonial bathing, amid traditional music and devotion; and the Dadhikando festival is played, a joyful throwing of curd, milk and turmeric, in celebration of the pastoral, cowherd life that Balarama loves, so the whole town rejoices.

• The holy Kshir Sagar. Behind the Dauji temple lies the Kshir Sagar, the Ocean of Milk, the sacred tank where Balarama's ancient deity is held to have been rediscovered; pilgrims take a holy dip there before darshan, above all at his appearance festival.

See our kshir sagar guide for the Dauji temple and its sacred tank and our dauji huranga 2027 guide for the famous Holi festival here.

Hal Shashti: the farmers' fast

In the villages of North India and Braj, Balaram Jayanti is kept as Hal Shashti, the festival of the plough:

• The worship of the plough and the earth. As Balarama is Haladhara, the holder of the plough, the day is dear to farmers, who worship the plough, hala and the earth and pray for a good harvest, for strength and for prosperity; the plough symbolises hard work, the tilling of the earth and the dependence of human life on agriculture.

• The mothers' fast. Mothers especially keep a strict Hal Shashti fast, praying for the well-being and long life of their children; the day is also called Lalahi Chhath or Lalai Chhath for this reason, a festival of a mother's love and prayer, akin in spirit to other such vrats.

• What is eaten and avoided. On Hal Shashti, those who fast traditionally avoid the grains and produce of cow-ploughed, cultivated land and the use of cow's milk products, out of reverence; they take instead the milk and curd of the buffalo and uncultivated produce, keeping the vrat simply and devoutly.

The regional traditions and names

Balaram Jayanti is kept across India under many names and on more than one date:

• Baldev Chhath and Hal Shashti (North India, Braj). On Bhadrapada Krishna Shashthi, the mainstream date, kept as Baldev Chhath, Hal Shashti, Hal Chhath, Lalahi Chhath, and, in Rajasthan, Chandan or Chandra Shashti and in Gujarat, Randhan Chhath; this is the date in 2027, 23 August.

• Balarama Purnima (Gaudiya and ISKCON). Many Gaudiya Vaishnava and ISKCON communities keep Balarama's appearance as Balarama Purnima on the earlier Shravana Purnima, the full moon that is also Raksha Bandhan, some days before the Braj date; this is a widely kept tradition in the Vaishnava world.

• Gamha Purnima (Odisha). In Odisha, Balarama's appearance is kept as Gamha Purnima, also on the Shravana full moon, with the worship of cattle and of Balabhadra, who is enshrined with Jagannath and Subhadra at Puri; it is a major festival of the region.

Keeping Balaram Jayanti and visiting Baldeo

To keep Balaram Jayanti in Braj, at Balarama's own town, is a beautiful devotion:

• When and where to come. Come to Baldeo, about 21 km south-east of Mathura near Gokul, for Balaram Jayanti on 23 August 2027, for the abhishekam, the Dadhikando and the darshan of Dauji Maharaj, with the holy dip at the Kshir Sagar; and stay for Krishna Janmashtami two days later, for the sweetest days of the Braj year. Book early, as it is a dear, busy season.

• Combine with Gokul and the Janmabhoomi. As Baldeo lies near Gokul, where Balarama was born and not far from Mathura, where Krishna's Janmashtami is kept at the Janmabhoomi, these days let you honour both brothers in their own land; many pilgrims combine Baldeo, Gokul and Mathura.

• Go with a local. Baldeo is a little off the main Mathura-Vrindavan circuit and the festival brings crowds; go with a Braj local who knows the Dauji temple, the Kshir Sagar, the festival programme and the way and keep the appearance of Dauji with devotion and ease.

See our distance from mathura to gokul guide for reaching this side of Braj, the krishna janmabhoomi for Janmashtami and our mathura vrindavan temple timings guide for darshan hours.

We take pilgrims to Baldeo for Balaram Jayanti and the darshan of Dauji Maharaj, with Gokul, Mathura and the whole of Braj and for Janmashtami too, in a comfortable vehicle with a Braj-born guide who keeps these festivals himself. A shared day tour starts from around ₹1,499 per person, with darshan free and we arrange bespoke festival trips too. The braj 84 kos yatra covers the whole of Braj including Baldeo, our mathura vrindavan tour the twin cities and our vrindavan tour package Vrindavan in a day; the dwarkadhish temple of Mathura and the braj yamuna ghats and leela sites are dear too. Message me on WhatsApp at +91-7302265809 to plan your Balaram Jayanti in Braj.

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