[5][6] Devotees worship Govardhan Hill and prepare and offer a large variety of vegetarian food to Krishna as a mark of gratitude.

[7] For Vaishnavas, this day commemorates the incident in the Bhagavata Purana when Krishna lifted Govardhan Hill to provide the villagers of Vrindavan shelter from torrential rains.

[4] According to the Bhagavata Purana, forest-dwelling cowherds living close to Govardhan used to celebrate the autumn season by paying respect to Indra, the god of rain and storm.

On the day of Annakut, devotees circumambulate the hill and offer food to the mountain—and old ritual in Braj, established by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Others may circumambulate the mountain by offering dandavats (full body prostrations) which can take ten to twelve days.

In the days leading up to Annakut, fifty-six food items (chappan bhog) are typically prepared and offered in the evening.

After completing the structure, it is decorated by earthern lamps (deepak or diya), seenkh (a material used for broom chaffs), and candles.

[23][24] At the Shree Mahalakshmi Mandir in Mumbai, India, 56 sweets and food items are offered to Mataji and then distributed as prasad to more than 500 devotees.

[24] The Annakut festival is also celebrated annually at approximately 3,850 BAPS Mandirs and centers throughout the world in a day-long event.

[25][26][27][28][29] Visitors learn about Hinduism, offer prayers for the new year, partake in the prasad, or sanctified food, and engage in other devotional activities.

[7][31] The Guinness World record for the largest Annakut ever held was on October 27, 2019 (Diwali) in BAPS Atladra Mandir in Gujarat with over 3500 vegetarian dishes.

[33][self-published source] In some mandirs, arti is performed several times in the day as long as the annakut offerings remain before the deities.

In the evening, devotees take portions of the Annakut as prasad, sanctified food, that has been offered to God and is received as his mercy.