Ganesh Chaturthi (14 September): Sthapana Muhurat, Puja Vidhi and the Moon You Must Not Look At
Monday, 14 September 2026 is Ganesh Chaturthi. The Sthapana Muhurat runs 11:02 to 13:30 — and there is a reason the installation waits for midday rather than starting at sunrise.
Monday, 14 September 2026 is Ganesh Chaturthi — the day Ganesha is brought home and installed, and the first of the ten days that end with visarjan on Anant Chaturdashi. The Chaturthi tithi of Bhadrapada Shukla Paksha begins at 07:06 this morning, which is also the moment Tritiya — and with it Hartalika Teej — comes to an end.
Sthapana Muhurat: 11:02 to 13:30
The installation is done in Madhyahna, the midday division of the day, which today runs 11:02 to 13:30. This is the window for pranapratishtha and the main puja. Sunrise is 06:06 and sunset 18:26; Rahu Kaal falls 15:20 to 16:53, comfortably after the muhurat closes, so there is no conflict to work around this year.
If the murti arrives home earlier in the morning, keep it covered and unworshipped until 11:02 — the sthapana is what the muhurat governs, not the arrival.
Why midday, and why the 14th and not the 15th
Ganesha is held to have been born during madhyahna, so the festival is madhyahna-vyapini: the day that counts is the day on which Chaturthi is present at midday, not the day it is present at sunrise. That distinction decides the date this year. Chaturthi begins at 07:06 on the 14th, so it covers the whole of the 14th's madhyahna. It ends early on the morning of the 15th — before that day's midday arrives. So although the 15th is the day that rises under Chaturthi, the 14th is the day that holds it when it matters, and Ganesh Chaturthi is the 14th.
Sthapana and puja vidhi
- Bathe and prepare a clean raised platform, facing east or north, with a red or yellow cloth spread over it and a few grains of rice beneath the murti's seat.
- Bring the murti in with the family, place it on the platform, and take the sankalp naming the number of days you intend to keep Ganesha at home — one and a half, three, five, seven or the full ten.
- Perform pranapratishtha within the muhurat, invoking Ganesha into the murti with the mantra and a touch of akshat and flowers.
- Follow with the shodashopachara — the sixteen offerings: seat, water for the feet, bath, cloth, sacred thread, sandalwood, flowers, incense, lamp, naivedya, and the rest in order.
- Offer durva — twenty-one blades, in bunches of three — which is the offering Ganesha is said to accept above all others, along with red hibiscus, sindoor and modak.
- Chant "Om Gan Ganapataye Namah", read the Ganesh Chalisa or the Atharvashirsha, and perform aarti with "Sukhkarta Dukhharta".
- Repeat the aarti morning and evening for as many days as the sankalp named, then take the murti for visarjan.
The moon you must not look at
Tradition holds that the moon should not be looked at on Ganesh Chaturthi night. The reason given is the Syamantaka episode: Krishna saw the moon on this night and was falsely accused of stealing the Syamantaka jewel, and it took the recovery of the gem to clear his name. The dosha is therefore called Mithya Dosha — the blemish of false accusation — and the customary remedy, if the moon is seen by accident, is to recite the Syamantaka story or the verse "Simhah prasenam avadhit, simho jambavata hatah" rather than to worry about it.
The ten days ahead
Ganesha stays for as long as the sankalp named. Households that keep the full term will do visarjan on Anant Chaturdashi, with the shorter observances releasing the murti after a day and a half, three, five or seven days. Whichever term you take, the parting is done with the same words each year — Ganpati Bappa Morya, pudhchya varshi lavkar ya: come back soon, next year.