According to Hindu scriptures such as the Mahabharata, Harivamsa, and the Krishna Charitas, the birth of Krishna took place in Mathura, in present-day Uttar Pradesh, on the eighth day of the Krishna Paksha of the Bhadrapada month of the Hindu calendar, to Vasudeva Anakdundubhi, and his wife Devaki.[1][2] According to Hindu mythology, Krishna was the eighth of the ten avatars of Vishnu, born in the Dvapara Yuga, the third age of the present Hindu cosmology.[3] Krishna is revered as the Supreme Being in many Hindu traditions, most notably in the Krishnaism tradition of Vaishnavism.[4]
Though Krishna's date of birth is heavily disputed, many scholars believe that Krishna was probably born around 3rd millennium BCE, or even earlier.[5][6][7] Born in Mathura,[8] in the prison of his maternal uncle Kamsa, Krishna was taken to Nanda, by his father in Vraja, through river Yamuna, on the night of his birth.[9]
Krishna's birth is celebrated on the eighth night of the Bhadrapada month every year as Krishna Janmashtami.[10]