While most parts of India observed Janmashtami, the birth of Lord Krishna, on Saturday, August 16, Kerala will celebrate the festival nearly a month later, on September 14. The variation arises from differences in regional calendars used to mark the occasion.
Highlighting this distinction, Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor took to X to question why Kerala follows a separate date for Janmashtami. He pointed out that according to the Malayalam calendar, the festival falls on 14 September this year, unlike the rest of the country.
Tharoor, in a lighthearted remark, noted that “surely even a Bhagwan can’t be born on two different days six weeks apart.” He further suggested that there may be a case for rationalising religious festival dates so celebrations are uniform nationwide, adding that “Keralites don’t observe a different Christmas.”
