Govatsa Dwadashi Story

Once there was a king with two queens, named Sita and Geeta. The king owned a cow and a buffalo. Queen Sita favored the buffalo, while Queen Geeta loved the cow. After some time, the cow gave birth to a calf. Out of jealousy, the buffalo convinced Queen Sita to harm the cow and its calf. Sita believed the buffalo's words, became angry, and killed the calf, hiding it in a wheat field. That evening, as the king sat down to eat, he noticed blood and meat everywhere in the palace. The food served to him became impure, and blood started raining throughout the kingdom. Before the king could understand, a divine voice revealed Queen Sita's act to him. The king asked the divine voice for a solution. The voice instructed him to observe a fast and worship the cow and calf on Kartik month's Krishna Paksha Dwadashi (12th lunar day). By performing the rituals properly, the calf would come back to life, and the king would be freed from the sin. The king followed the instructions, and the calf came back to life. He then declared that Govats Dwadashi would be celebrated with fasting and worship every year across the kingdom. Since then, this tradition has been observed.