Ganesh Chaturthi 2026: Date, Puja Vidhi, Muhurat & Visarjan

A Shiva dham thronged with kanwariyas offering jal · Shiv Kavar Samiti

As the last of the monsoon clouds drift away, a joy quite unlike any other arrives at the doorstep: Ganesh Chaturthi, the birthday of Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed remover of obstacles and the beloved son of Shiva and Parvati. For ten days homes and streets fill with the fragrance of modak, the sound of 'Ganpati Bappa Morya', and the sight of Bappa seated on his throne, welcomed as a living guest in every household that installs him. This guide walks you gently through Ganesh Chaturthi 2026: when it is expected to fall, the shubh muhurat for the sthapana, the sweet story of how Ganesha came to be, the step-by-step puja vidhi, the modak bhog he so loves, the old belief about not seeing the moon, and the visarjan that closes the festival — all phrased according to the panchang, so you can plan with confidence and devotion.

What is Ganesh Chaturthi?

Ganesh Chaturthi — also called Vinayaka Chaturthi or Ganeshotsav — marks the birth of Lord Ganesha, the deity worshipped first before any other in the entire Hindu tradition. He is Vighnaharta, the one who clears every obstacle, and the lord of new beginnings, wisdom and good fortune, which is why no puja, no wedding, no journey and no new venture begins without first invoking him. The festival falls on the Chaturthi (fourth day) of the bright fortnight (Shukla Paksha) of the month of Bhadrapada, and in many homes and pandals it stretches across ten glad days, from the sthapana (installation of his murti) to the visarjan (his loving farewell into water) on Anant Chaturdashi. What began as a household vrat grew, under Lokmanya Tilak in the days of the freedom movement, into the great public Ganeshotsav we know today, especially in Maharashtra — a festival that binds whole neighbourhoods together in devotion and seva.

When is Ganesh Chaturthi 2026?

According to the panchang, Ganesh Chaturthi 2026 is expected to fall on Monday, 14 September 2026, on the Shukla Paksha Chaturthi of Bhadrapada. The Chaturthi tithi is expected to begin on the morning of 14 September and to end on the morning of 15 September 2026 — but tithi timings shift by the sunrise and longitude of your city, so please treat the following as expected and confirm the exact tithi and muhurat with a reliable local panchang:

A small clarification that saves confusion: the Chaturthi tithi may span parts of two calendar days, but the festival is observed on the day the tithi prevails during Madhyahna (midday), which in 2026 is expected to be 14 September. This is why the Madhyahna period is so central to Ganesh Chaturthi, as we will see next.

The Madhyahna puja muhurat for 2026

Unlike most Hindu pujas that favour the morning or evening, Ganesha's worship on this day is best done in the Madhyahna kaal — the midday window — because it is believed he was born at noon. For 2026, the Madhyahna Ganesha puja muhurat is expected roughly between 11:02 AM and 1:31 PM on 14 September, giving devotees a little over two hours for the sthapana and pran-pratishtha. These minutes are drawn for a reference city and will differ for yours by fifteen to thirty minutes or more, so do confirm your local Madhyahna muhurat with a panchang for your town before fixing the time of installation. If you cannot manage the exact window, offer the puja with a sincere heart within the day — Ganesha, gentle and forgiving, receives the bhav far more than the clock.

The story of Ganesha and the Shiva–Parvati bond

The best-loved telling begins with Goddess Parvati. Wishing for a guardian of her own while Lord Shiva was away, she formed a boy from the turmeric paste (or sandal, in some tellings) of her own body and breathed life into him — a son who was hers alone. She set him to guard her door and told him to let no one enter. When Shiva returned and the boy, not knowing his own father, barred the way, a terrible quarrel arose, and in his fury Shiva severed the child's head. Seeing Parvati's boundless grief, Shiva vowed to restore the boy to life, and commanded that the head of the first creature found facing north be brought — it was an elephant. Placing the elephant's head upon the child, Shiva breathed life back into him, made him his own son, and blessed him to be worshipped first before all gods, granting him the name Ganapati, lord of the ganas. This is the tender heart of the festival: Ganesha is the meeting of Shiva and Parvati, the child of both, and in adoring the son we bow also to the father, Mahadev, and the mother, Devi.

In loving the son, we bow to the father — where Ganpati is welcomed with a pure heart, there Shiva and Parvati dwell too.

Murti sthapana: welcoming Bappa home

The festival truly begins with the sthapana — installing the murti of Ganesha and inviting his presence into it through pran-pratishtha. A few gentle preparations make the welcome complete:

• 🔱Choose a clean, quiet spot facing east or north, and cover a wooden chowki (platform) with a fresh red or yellow cloth.
• 🔱Bathe and wear clean clothes; keep the area swept and the mind calm before beginning.
• 🔱Place a few grains of rice on the chowki, set the murti upon it, and keep a kalash (water pot), a diya, roli, akshat (rice), durva grass, flowers and modak ready.
• 🔱During the Madhyahna muhurat, perform the pran-pratishtha and the shodashopachara (sixteen-step) puja to invite Bappa to reside as your honoured guest.
• 🔱Light the diya and incense, and greet him with 'Ganpati Bappa Morya' — the household's beloved welcome.

Ganesh puja vidhi, step by step

The puja is simple in spirit and rich in love. In its common household form it unfolds like this:

• 🔱Sankalp — take a moment to state your intention, holding water, flowers and rice in your right hand, and offer it at the murti's feet.
• 🔱Invocation and snana — invoke Ganesha, then bathe the murti symbolically with water, and where the murti allows, with panchamrit (milk, curd, honey, sugar and ghee).
• 🔱Vastra and adornment — offer fresh cloth, the sacred thread, sandal paste, roli, akshat and haldi-kumkum.
• 🔱Durva and flowers — offer durva grass in bunches (dearest to Ganesha) and red flowers such as hibiscus, and place a garland around him.
• 🔱Dhoop, deep and bhog — light incense and the lamp, and offer modak, laddoo and fruit as bhog.
• 🔱Aarti and mantra — sing 'Jai Ganesh Deva', chant 'Om Gan Ganapataye Namah' 108 times, and end with pushpanjali, seeking forgiveness for any error in the worship.

Repeat a shorter aarti and bhog each morning and evening for as many days as you keep Bappa at home — one and a half, three, five, seven or the full ten days, as your family tradition holds.

Modak and the bhog Bappa loves

No offering delights Ganesha like the modak — the soft steamed dumpling of rice flour filled with jaggery and coconut, called ukadiche modak in Marathi. He is fondly called Modakapriya, the one who loves modak, and twenty-one modak are traditionally offered on the main day. Alongside modak, devotees offer:

• 🔱Motichoor and besan laddoo, another favourite of Bappa.
• 🔱Durva grass, offered in bunches of twenty-one blades, considered dearer to him than gold.
• 🔱Fresh seasonal fruit, especially banana and coconut.
• 🔱Kheer, puran poli and other sattvic sweets prepared with love at home.

Why the moon is not to be seen on Ganesh Chaturthi

An old and charming belief cautions against gazing at the moon on the night of Ganesh Chaturthi. The story tells that the moon, Chandra, once laughed at Ganesha's rounded form after a feast, and Ganesha, displeased, laid a curse: whoever looks upon the moon on this Chaturthi will bear a false accusation or mithya dosh, an undeserved blemish on their name. Even Lord Krishna, it is said, was touched by this dosh through the Syamantaka jewel tale. Should one glance at the moon by accident, the remedy handed down is simple — recite the Syamantaka verse or the prayer 'Simhah Prasenam avadhit...', or listen to the story of Krishna and the jewel, and the dosh is believed to lift. Whether taken as literal caution or as a gentle teaching in humility, it is a much-loved part of the day.

The ten-day festival and Ganesh Visarjan

For those who keep Bappa for the full span, the festival flows from installation to farewell over ten glad days, ending with the visarjan on Anant Chaturdashi. The expected shape of Ganeshotsav 2026 is below — again, please confirm the tithis with a local panchang:

Visarjan is bittersweet: with drums, dance and cries of 'Ganpati Bappa Morya, pudhchya varshi lavkar ya' — 'come again soon next year' — the murti is carried to water and lovingly immersed, symbolising Ganesha's return to Kailash and the cycle of arrival and departure that is life itself. Many families do a smaller visarjan on the first, third, fifth or seventh day as their tradition holds; the bhav is the same whether the stay is short or the full ten days.

An eco-friendly Ganesh Chaturthi

Love for Bappa and love for his creation go hand in hand. As more devotees have seen how plaster-of-Paris murtis and chemical paints harm our rivers and ponds, a gentle return to older, greener ways has taken root. A few simple choices keep the festival pure in every sense:

• 🔱Choose a natural clay (shaadu / mitti) murti painted with natural colours, which dissolves cleanly in water.
• 🔱Consider a small murti for a home visarjan in a bucket or drum, using the water afterwards for plants.
• 🔱Offer flowers, durva and cloth that can be composted, and avoid plastic and thermocol decorations.
• 🔱Some families keep a metal or stone murti for the puja and immerse only a tiny symbolic clay one, or plant a seeded clay Ganesha that grows into a tree.

A clean river and a green earth are themselves an offering to Ganesha, the lord who removes not only our obstacles but, when we let him, our carelessness too.

Turn your festival joy into seva

Ganesha is worshipped first because he clears the path for all good things — and there is no worship dearer to him than sharing your good fortune with those who have less. Ganesh Chaturthi, with its abundance of modak and bhog, is a beautiful time to remember that a festival is complete only when someone else's plate is full too. Our Shiv Kavar Samiti, a Shiva-seva trust on NH-8 at Mahipalpur, New Delhi, has served free bhojan and clean water to pilgrims and the needy for over thirty years, and in this festive season we carry that same seva forward — because the son of Mahadev teaches us that removing another's hunger is the surest way to remove our own obstacles.

If Bappa's joy has reached your home this year, consider letting a little of it reach another's. Even one thali of anna-daan offered in Ganesha's name is a prayer that never returns empty.

How you can be part of the seva

Every plate of prasad, every glass of water and every act of care is made possible by the daan of well-wishers. If you would like to contribute this Ganesh Chaturthi, you can donate online at our /donate page through Razorpay's secure checkout, or by bank transfer to our Punjab National Bank account (A/C 0149000104323988, IFSC PUNB0014900, Khan Market branch). To offer ration and supplies, to volunteer as a sewadar, or simply to ask how to reach us, message us on WhatsApp at +91 98189 08237. May Vighnaharta clear every obstacle from your path and fill your home with wisdom and joy this year and always. Ganpati Bappa Morya · Har Har Mahadev.