Yamuna Chhath

Yamuna Chhath, also called Yamuna Jayanti, celebrates the sacred river Yamuna and is especially important in Mathura, Vrindavan and the wider Braj region. Hindu tradition personifies Yamuna as a goddess, daughter of Surya and sister of Yama, and the river is inseparable from Krishna's childhood and youthful lilas in Braj. Stories of Krishna playing on her banks, crossing her waters and subduing the serpent Kaliya make Yamuna not simply a river but a living participant in sacred geography. On Chaitra Shukla Shashthi devotees bathe where possible, worship Yamuna with flowers, lamps and water offerings, and gather at river ghats and temples. The festival combines reverence for a deity with gratitude for a life-giving river, making purity of water and respect for the natural source of community life part of its devotional meaning.

Yamuna Chhath is valued for devotion, family tradition and the spiritual or seasonal meaning attached to the day.