Janmashtami 2025: Why is stalk cucumber cut at midnight on Janmashtami, know religious importance

Krishna Janmashtami is an important festival of Hinduism, which is celebrated on the Ashtami date of Krishna Paksha of Bhado month to commemorate the birth anniversary of Krishna. This year, the festival of Janmashtami is on Saturday 16 August 2025.

Janmashtami is worshiped midnight (12 o’clock). It is believed that in Rohini Nakshatra, midnight Kanha was born as the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu in the Dwapar Yuga. On this day, devotees worship Kanha by law and celebrate their birth anniversary.

The tradition of cutting cucumber midnight on Janmashtami is also special, without which worship is not complete. But do you know why the midnight is cut on Janmashtami, what is the relation of this tradition of cutting cucumber and stalk cucumber.

On the day of Janmashtami, the stalking cucumber is cut with a coin in the same way as a child is cut off from the mother’s womb at the time of birth of a child. According to Hindu belief, the stalk of cucumber is considered to be the umbilical cord of Lord Krishna.

The tradition of cutting the stalking cucumber on Janmashtami as a umbilical cord and taking out the small idol of Krishna is still played as a ritual to separate from Shri Krishna and Mata Devaki. This ritual is also called placenta piercing. It is a symbol of the birth of the baby with motherhood.

After the plain tradition, Shri Krishna’s Aarti is performed and cucumbers are offered in worship. After worship, this cucumber is distributed among the devotees as a prasad.