Ganesh Chaturthi
The birth festival of Ganesh, celebrated on the Shukla Chaturthi of Bhadrapada. A murti — ideally of clay — is brought home, given pran-pratishtha in the madhyahna hours, and worshipped as a living guest for one and a half, three, five, seven or ten days, the longest tradition ending at Anant Chaturdashi. Daily aarti and modak bhog continue for as long as Bappa stays, and the parv closes with visarjan and the promise of an early return. Unlike the monthly Sankashti, this is a parv of welcome, not a hardship fast.
Next date: 2026-09-15
vidhi
Bathe in the morning, clean the puja space, and set a chowki with a red or yellow cloth in the north-east or east of the house; keep the sthapana for the madhyahna window, the midday hours in which Ganesh is held to have been born.,Bring the murti home with its face covered, uncover it on the chowki, and do the pran-pratishtha — offer akshat and flowers with the bhav of invitation, asking Ganesh to reside in the murti as a living guest for the days of your sankalp.,Set a kalash with water, mango leaves and a coconut beside him, and do a symbolic abhishek — panchamrit for a small metal murti, a light sprinkle of gangajal for a clay one.,Offer a sindoor tilak, a janeu, twenty-one blades of durva, red flowers, haldi, chandan and akshat, with dhoop and a ghee lamp.,Offer bhog of twenty-one modaks or besan laddoos with a banana and paan-supari, chant Vakratunda Mahakaya, and distribute the bhog as prasad after the aarti.,Do aarti with camphor both morning and evening, and offer fresh bhog daily, for as many days as fixed in the sankalp — one and a half, three, five, seven or ten.,On the final day do the uttar-puja: offer akshat, shift the murti slightly from its place as the sign of farewell, and take it for visarjan in flowing water — or immerse a clay murti in a tub at home and pour that water to a plant — saying Ganpati Bappa Morya, agle baras tu jaldi aa.katha
When Ganesh, full of modaks, tumbled from his mouse and the moon laughed at him, he cursed Chandra: whoever looked at him would fall under a false accusation. At the devas' pleading he confined the curse to a single tithi — the Shukla Chaturthi of Bhadrapada, his own birthday. Even Krishna was not spared. In Dwarka, Satrajit owned the Syamantaka, a jewel that yielded gold every day. His brother Prasen wore it hunting and was killed by a lion; the lion was killed by Jambavan, who carried the jewel to his cave. Because Krishna had glimpsed the moon's reflection in a bowl of milk that Chaturthi night, the city whispered that he had murdered Prasen for the jewel. Krishna followed the trail, fought Jambavan for days in the cave, and returned with the Syamantaka and with Jambavati; his name was cleared before the full court. Since then the tradition has kept a simple remedy for anyone who happens to see the moon that night — hear or read this very katha, and the matter ends there. It is a parihar, not a punishment.mantra
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A clay Ganesh murti that dissolves fully in water, with natural colours,A chowki with red or yellow cloth,Kalash with water, mango leaves and a coconut,Sindoor, janeu, and twenty-one blades of fresh durva,Red flowers, haldi, chandan and akshat,Twenty-one modaks or besan laddoos, banana and paan-supari for the bhog,Ghee lamp with a cotton wick, dhoop and camphor for the aarti,Gangajal or panchamrit for the abhishekUpcoming dates
- 2026-09-15