Radha Ashtami  is  the birth anniversary of ‘Shri Radha Rani’, the consort of Lord Krishna. She is known as an ‘avatar’ of Goddess Lakshmi. It is celebrated on the ‘ashtami’ (8th day) of the Shukla Paksha (the bright fortnight  moon) during ‘Bhadrapada masam ’ in the Hindu calendar. Radha Ashtami is also known as ‘Radha Jayanti’ or ‘Radhashtami’ and Hindus worship Goddess Radha with utmost devotion. This day also honors the selfless bond of love between Sri Krishna and Radha, a unique relationship between Human and God or Atma and Parmatma.

Radha Ashtami is celebrated 15 days after  Krishna Janmashtami, the birth anniversary of Sri Krishna. On the occasion of Radha Ashtami, special pujas and prayers are held in all Lord Krishna temples, especially in ISCKON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) temples all over the world.

The temples are decorated beautifully, special prayers are offered and devotional songs congratulating Sh Vrishbhanu on birth of a daughter are sung in chorus.

The celebrations are even one grandly in Mathura, Vrindavan and Barsana, the birth place of Radha Rani. She appeared in Brij Mandal as the lovely daughter of Shri Vrishbhanuji in Barsana. Her village Barsana is located between Goverdhan and Nandgaon. The entire place is agricultural area and land beyond fields is densely forested. These forests are inhabited by large colonies of monkeys and peacocks apart from other wild animals. Peacocks coming inside the populated area and dancing on the rooftops of the homes is a common site here. Similarly monkeys entering into houses and running away with food items or anything that they may fancy about are a frequent occurrence. This area has a large numbers of natural springs and ponds which are called as Kunds. So this beautiful land has the distinction of being the playground of Radha and Krishna.

Rituals that are needed to be done on Radha Ashtami:

On the day of Radha Ashtami,  all the devotees rise before sunrise and spend the day worshipping Goddess Radha. Some devotees also observe a fast for this occasion to show their devotion towards  Goddess Radha. And prayers are offered to Radha along with Lord Krishna. The worship of Lord Krishna will be  incomplete without worshipping Radha Rani.

The idol of Goddess Radha is bathed and abhishekam is performed with ‘panchamrit’, at noon. The idol is then adorned with new  beautiful clothes and fresh flowers. The devotees offer shringar items, dhoop and bhog to Radhaji. After this Radhaji’s aarti is sung and the prasad is distributed among devotees. On the day of Radha Ashtami, devotees recite different names of Goddess Radha and also chant the ‘Radha Gayatri Mantra’.

Significance of Radha Ashtami:

It is mentioned in the Hindu scriptures, that the observer of the Radha Ashtami vratam will bless us  with a prosperous and happy life. the persons will overcome all their  obstacles and  attain the materialistic desires and finally attain salvation. It is believed that after observing the Radha Ashtami fast and worship Goddess Durga, the person will be freed from all their sin also.. Their minds will be cleared from negative and bad thoughts and he/she will then attain spiritual bliss. It is also said that if one manages to please Radha Rani, Lord Krishna’s blessings are also sought because Lord Krishna resides in Radha. According to Skanda Puranam  there were about 16,000 ‘gopis’, out of which 108 were the most prominent ones, Radha ji was considered as the most important of them all.

May Radha Rani Bless you, your family and friends with all the Health, Wealth and Prosperity.