Shukla paksha · Bhadrapada · amanta reckoning
Sat, 4 Sep
Ganesh Chaturthi 2027 is on Saturday, 4 September. In New Delhi the Ganesh Chaturthi muhurat is 11:04 AM to 12:26 PM.
2028: Wednesday, 23 August 2028
Ganesh Chaturthi muhurat
11:04 AM – 12:26 PM
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Saturday, 4 September 2027
Ganesh Chaturthi is not a Gregorian date. It is Shukla paksha tithi 4 of Bhadrapada in the amanta reckoning, and the Gregorian day it lands on moves by up to a month between years because twelve lunations fall about eleven days short of a solar year.
Madhyahna in New Delhi falls at 12:20 PM on that day, and that is the instant the tithi has to be running at for the day to carry the observance. It is computed for this city rather than assumed, because it is what decides the date.
The two instants above are the astronomy and are not in dispute. The day is an interpretation of them: this observance is decided at madhyahna, so it belongs to the day whose madhyahna the tithi carries — not simply to the day the tithi begins.
Ganesh Chaturthi, also called Vinayaka Chaturthi, is Ganesha's birthday, Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi, when families bring a clay Ganesha home, install him at midday, care for him as an honoured guest for one and a half to ten days, and then immerse him. In New Delhi it falls on Saturday, 4 September 2027. The sthapana and puja are done in the madhyahna while Chaturthi runs (11:04 AM to 12:26 PM), and Chaturthi runs from 2:19 PM (3 Sep) to 12:26 PM. The moon is not to be seen on this Chaturthi: the time to avoid it is 3 Sep, 2:19 PM to 8:09 PM; 9:40 AM to 8:47 PM.
| Muhurat | Time in New Delhi | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Madhyahna Ganesh puja and sthapana muhurat | 11:04 AM to 12:26 PMMadhyahna, the middle fifth of the day, while Chaturthi runs. | Ganesha is held to have been born at midday, so the texts place the sthapana and the main puja in the madhyahna, the middle fifth of the day, while Chaturthi runs. The festival day itself is the one whose madhyahna Chaturthi holds, and this is the window the panchangs print as the Ganesh puja muhurat. |
| Moon sighting to avoidKept clear of |
| On this Chaturthi the moon is not to be looked at; the reason is in the katha below. The window runs from moonrise, or from Chaturthi's start, to moonset, on each day Chaturthi runs. On this tithi the moon rises in the morning and is lost in the daylight, so the hours that matter are after sunset, until it sets: keep your eyes off the western sky in the evening. |
| Abhijit muhurat | 11:54 AM to 12:45 PMThe 8th of the day's fifteen muhurtas, around local noon. | The eighth muhurta of the day, around local noon, held auspicious for any beginning. On this day it falls in or beside the madhyahna and suits a family that wants one short, clear time for the sthapana. By tradition there is no Abhijit on a Wednesday. |
| Auspicious choghadiya (day) |
| For a family that cannot install Ganesha at midday: the day's Amrit, Shubh, Labh and Chal choghadiyas. The madhyahna remains the first choice. |
| Auspicious choghadiya (night) |
| For a sthapana after dark, when a pandal or a family can only manage the evening: the night's Labh, Shubh, Amrit and Chal choghadiyas. |
| Rahu Kaal (avoid for the sthapana)Kept clear of | 9:10 AM to 10:45 AMRahu's eighth of the daylight, fixed by the weekday: a puja, a purchase or a journey is not begun in it. | The eighth of the daylight ruled by Rahu. By custom no new beginning is started in it, the installation of Ganesha included. |
| Window | Time in New Delhi | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Abhijit Muhurat | 11:54 AM to 12:45 PM | Auspicious |
| Amrit Kaal | 8:42 AM to 10:14 AM | Most Auspicious |
| Amrit Kaal (Second) | 5:49 AM to 7:24 AM | Most Auspicious |
| Brahma Muhurat | 4:29 AM to 5:15 AM | Auspicious |
These are the spans classical muhurta sets aside for beginnings. They are descriptions of a convention, not warnings: the observance is kept on its day regardless, and nothing here needs to be bought, corrected or remedied.
| Window | Time in New Delhi |
|---|---|
| Rahu Kaal | 9:10 AM to 10:45 AM |
| Yamaganda Kaal | 1:55 PM to 3:30 PM |
| Durmuhurta First | 6:00 AM to 6:50 AM |
| Durmuhurta Second | 6:50 AM to 7:41 AM |
| Varjyam | 8:21 PM to 9:55 PM |
Every time above is computed for New Delhi around Saturday, 4 September 2027, from the sunrise, sunset and the positions of the Sun and Moon for this city. The Vedic day runs sunrise to sunrise, so a window whose clock time falls after midnight still belongs to the evening before; a time on another date carries that date.
Choose a clay (shadu) murti that will dissolve in water, ideally a seated one with a calm face. Bring him home the day before or that morning, his face covered with a cloth until the sthapana, to cries of Ganpati Bappa Morya.
Clean the room and set a chowki in the north-east, east or north of the home, never directly on the floor, under a staircase or against a bathroom wall. Spread a red or yellow cloth, make a small heap of rice (akshat) on it for the seat, and decorate the mandap with flowers, mango leaves and banana stems.
Bathe and put on clean clothes. Sit facing east or north, sip water three times (achaman), and take the sankalp holding water, rice and a flower: your name and gotra, and how many days Ganesha will stay, one and a half, three, five, seven or ten.
Place a kalash of water with mango leaves and a coconut beside the chowki and light a ghee lamp; many families keep one burning for as long as Ganesha is home.
In the madhyahna, unveil the murti and seat him on the rice. Invite him with folded hands, with the Gananam tva verse or Om Shri Siddhivinayakaya Namah, avahayami, sthapayami (both below). A priest performs the full pran pratishtha with Vedic mantras.
Offer water for his feet, hands and mouth (padya, arghya, achamaniya). Bathe him symbolically, sprinkling panchamrit and then clean water with a flower so that the clay does not soften, and offer a new cloth and a sacred thread.
Apply sandal paste and sindoor, offer akshat, red flowers (the hibiscus is his favourite), a garland and shami leaves.
Offer 21 blades of durva grass, in pairs, with Ganesha's names given below, the last single blade with all the names together. Durva is his own offering and is never left out.
Offer 21 modaks or laddoos, fruit, a coconut and betel leaves with a coin, sprinkling water around the plate before you offer it.
Wave the incense and the lamp and sing the aarti: Jai Ganesh Deva in the north, Sukhkarta Dukhharta in Maharashtra. Circle the altar, or turn around where you stand, and offer flowers with folded hands (pushpanjali).
Recite the Ganapati Atharvashirsha or read the katha of Ganesha's birth. Many families also read the Syamantaka story on the first evening, as protection against seeing the moon.
Morning and evening, offer fresh flowers, durva and a sweet and do the aarti; keep the altar clean and lit, and do not leave Ganesha alone in a locked house. Guests come for darshan and go home with prasad.
On the chosen day, do a last puja and aarti with a final bhog, and ask forgiveness for any lapse with the kshama prarthana below. Many families then move the murti a little from its seat with a few grains of akshat: the farewell has begun.
Carry Ganesha out with music and the cry Ganpati Bappa Morya, pudhchya varshi lavkar ya, come back soon next year. Immerse him in a tub or bucket at home, an artificial tank or a clean natural water body; when the clay has dissolved, the water and clay can go to your plants.
वक्रतुण्ड महाकाय सूर्यकोटिसमप्रभ ।
निर्विघ्नं कुरु मे देव सर्वकार्येषु सर्वदा ॥
Vakratunda mahakaya suryakoti-samaprabha
nirvighnam kuru me deva sarva-karyeshu sarvada
Meaning: O curved-trunked, mighty-bodied one, bright as a million suns: make all my works free of obstacles, O lord, always.
When and how: To begin the puja, and any task. A traditional invocation; no scriptural source has been confirmed for it.
ॐ गणानां त्वा गणपतिं हवामहे कविं कवीनामुपमश्रवस्तमम् ।
ज्येष्ठराजं ब्रह्मणां ब्रह्मणस्पत आ नः शृण्वन्नूतिभिः सीद सादनम् ॥
Om gananam tva ganapatim havamahe kavim kavinam upamashravastamam
jyeshtharajam brahmanam brahmanaspata a nah shrinvann utibhih sida sadanam
Meaning: We call on you, lord of the hosts, seer of seers, most renowned; eldest king of prayers, lord of prayer: hear us, come with your help, and take your seat.
When and how: At the avahan, as the murti is seated. From the Rigveda's second book, a hymn to Brahmanaspati that tradition reads as Ganapati's.
ॐ श्री सिद्धिविनायकाय नमः । आवाहयामि, स्थापयामि ॥
Om Shri Siddhivinayakaya Namah. Avahayami, sthapayami.
Meaning: Om, salutation to Shri Siddhivinayaka, giver of success: I invite you, I install you.
When and how: The simple words of invitation for a home sthapana, said as you seat the murti on the rice; Siddhivinayaka is the name under which Ganesha is worshipped on this Chaturthi.
ॐ गं गणपतये नमः
Om Gam Ganapataye Namah
Meaning: Om; gam, the seed syllable of Ganapati: salutation to Ganapati.
When and how: With each offering, and as japa, 108 times, every day he stays. The seed syllable is explained in the Ganapati Atharvashirsha.
ॐ एकदन्ताय विद्महे वक्रतुण्डाय धीमहि ।
तन्नो दन्तिः प्रचोदयात् ॥
Om Ekadantaya vidmahe Vakratundaya dhimahi
tanno Dantih prachodayat
Meaning: May we know the one-tusked; may we meditate on the curved-trunked; may the tusked one inspire us.
When and how: Japa, 11 or 108 times, on any day of the festival. It is verse 8 of the Ganapati Atharvashirsha.
ॐ गणाधिपाय नमः । ॐ उमापुत्राय नमः । ॐ अघनाशनाय नमः । ॐ विनायकाय नमः । ॐ ईशपुत्राय नमः । ॐ सर्वसिद्धिप्रदायकाय नमः । ॐ एकदन्ताय नमः । ॐ इभवक्त्राय नमः । ॐ मूषकवाहनाय नमः । ॐ कुमारगुरवे नमः ॥
Om Ganadhipaya Namah. Om Umaputraya Namah. Om Aghanashanaya Namah. Om Vinayakaya Namah. Om Ishaputraya Namah. Om Sarvasiddhipradayakaya Namah. Om Ekadantaya Namah. Om Ibhavaktraya Namah. Om Mushakavahanaya Namah. Om Kumaragurave Namah.
Meaning: Salutation to the lord of the ganas; to Uma's son; to the destroyer of sin; to Vinayaka, the remover of obstacles; to the son of Shiva; to the giver of every success; to the one-tusked; to the elephant-faced; to him who rides the mouse; to the elder and teacher of Kumara.
When and how: As the Skanda Purana (Kedara Khanda 11) gives it: a pair of durva blades with each of the ten names; the twenty-first blade goes with all the names together.
सिंहः प्रसेनमवधीत् सिंहो जाम्बवता हतः ।
सुकुमारक मा रोदीस्तव ह्येष स्यमन्तकः ॥
Simhah Prasenam avadhit simho Jambavata hatah
sukumaraka ma rodis tava hy esha Syamantakah
Meaning: The lion killed Prasena; the lion was killed by Jambavan. Do not cry, little one: this Syamantaka is yours.
When and how: If you see the moon on this Chaturthi, say it, or hear the Syamantaka story in the katha below. In the Vishnu Purana's story of the jewel (book 4, chapter 13) these are the nurse's words that hush the child in Jambavan's cave.
आवाहनं न जानामि न जानामि विसर्जनम् ।
पूजां नैव हि जानामि क्षमस्व परमेश्वर ॥
Avahanam na janami na janami visarjanam
pujam naiva hi janami kshamasva parameshvara
Meaning: I do not know how to invite you, nor how to bid you farewell, nor how to worship you: forgive me, supreme lord.
When and how: At the end of every puja, and above all at the uttar puja before the visarjan. This is the wording of the Gita Press Nitya Karma Puja Prakash; many say 'pujam chaiva na janami', with the same sense.
जय गणेश जय गणेश, जय गणेश देवा।
माता जाकी पार्वती, पिता महादेवा॥
एक दंत दयावंत, चार भुजा धारी।
माथे सिंदूर सोहे, मूसे की सवारी॥
जय गणेश जय गणेश, जय गणेश देवा।
माता जाकी पार्वती, पिता महादेवा॥
पान चढ़े फूल चढ़े, और चढ़े मेवा।
लड्डुअन का भोग लगे, संत करें सेवा॥
जय गणेश जय गणेश, जय गणेश देवा।
माता जाकी पार्वती, पिता महादेवा॥
अंधन को आंख देत, कोढ़िन को काया।
बांझन को पुत्र देत, निर्धन को माया॥
जय गणेश जय गणेश, जय गणेश देवा।
माता जाकी पार्वती, पिता महादेवा॥
'सूर' श्याम शरण आए, सफल कीजे सेवा।
माता जाकी पार्वती, पिता महादेवा॥
जय गणेश जय गणेश, जय गणेश देवा।
माता जाकी पार्वती, पिता महादेवा॥
Jai Ganesh jai Ganesh, jai Ganesh deva.
Mata jaki Parvati, pita Mahadeva.
Ek dant dayavant, char bhuja dhari.
Mathe sindoor sohe, moose ki savari.
Jai Ganesh jai Ganesh, jai Ganesh deva.
Mata jaki Parvati, pita Mahadeva.
Paan chadhe phool chadhe, aur chadhe meva.
Ladduan ka bhog lage, sant karen seva.
Jai Ganesh jai Ganesh, jai Ganesh deva.
Mata jaki Parvati, pita Mahadeva.
Andhan ko aankh det, kodhin ko kaya.
Banjhan ko putra det, nirdhan ko maya.
Jai Ganesh jai Ganesh, jai Ganesh deva.
Mata jaki Parvati, pita Mahadeva.
'Soor' Shyam sharan aaye, saphal kije seva.
Mata jaki Parvati, pita Mahadeva.
Jai Ganesh jai Ganesh, jai Ganesh deva.
Mata jaki Parvati, pita Mahadeva.
Text as it is commonly sung. The Gita Press Aarti Sangrah prints 'mastak sindoor sohe' for 'mathe sindoor sohe', puts the 'paan chadhe' stanza after 'andhan ko aankh det' with its two lines the other way round, and ends with 'dinan ki laaj rakho Shambhu-sutvari, kamna ko poora karo jag balihari' instead of the stanza 'Soor Shyam sharan aaye, saphal kije seva'. Printed text
Ganesha's birth, as the Shiva Purana tells it. As Parvati prepared to bathe, she shaped a boy from the paste and dirt rubbed off her own body, gave him life and set him at the door: no one was to enter. Shiva came home, and the boy, who had never seen him, barred his way. Words turned to battle; the ganas could not move the boy, and at last Shiva cut off his head.
Parvati's grief and fury shook the worlds. To calm her, Shiva sent the gods north to bring the head of the first living being they met; they came back with an elephant's. Shiva set it on the boy's body and brought him back to life, made him lord of his ganas, Ganapati, and decreed that he would be worshipped before every other god, at the start of every rite. Tradition keeps his birthday on Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi, at midday.
Why the moon is not seen. On his birthday, the story goes on, Ganesha was riding home on his mouse, heavy with the modaks of his feast, when the mouse stumbled and he fell. The Moon, proud of his own beauty, laughed. Ganesha cursed him: whoever looked at him would be blamed for something they had not done. When the gods pleaded, Ganesha softened the curse to this one day: whoever sees the moon on Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi faces a false accusation, a mithya dosh. That is why the day is also called Kalank Chaturthi, the Chaturthi of blame. The tellings differ in detail; the curse is the same in all of them.
The Syamantaka jewel. Even Krishna did not escape it. Satrajit of Dwarka had the Syamantaka jewel from the Sun. His brother Prasena wore it hunting; a lion killed him and took it, and the bear-king Jambavan killed the lion and carried the jewel to his cave. Dwarka whispered that Krishna had killed Prasena for it, and Krishna, the tellers add, had glimpsed the moon on this Chaturthi.
Krishna followed the trail into Jambavan's cave, fought him for many days, and won both the jewel and Jambavan's daughter Jambavati as his wife. He returned the jewel to Satrajit before all of Dwarka, the false charge fell away, and Satrajit gave him his daughter Satyabhama in marriage. Hearing this story, tradition says, lifts the blame of seeing the moon by mistake, which is why it is read on this Chaturthi.
Why Ganesha is worshipped first, as a popular telling has it. Shiva and Parvati once set their sons a race around the world. Kartikeya flew off on his peacock; Ganesha, on his small mouse, simply walked around his parents and bowed: they were his world. The prize was his, and with it, the telling says, the place he keeps to this day, first in every worship; in the Shiva Purana the prize is the right to marry first.
Ganesh Chaturthi celebrates the birth of Ganesha, Vighnaharta, the remover of obstacles and the lord of beginnings, worshipped first in every puja, wedding and new venture. Families welcome him home as a beloved guest, care for him for one and a half to ten days, and send him into the water with the cry: come back soon next year. The clay returning to the water is part of the meaning: the form goes, the presence stays.
The festival was kept at home for centuries, and grandly at the Peshwas' court in Pune in the eighteenth century. In the 1890s, after the first public Ganeshas appeared in Pune, Bal Gangadhar Tilak championed it as a public, sarvajanik festival in Pune and Mumbai, so that people of every caste and class could gather around one Ganesha, and the pandals that fill cities today grew from that.
Ganesha has a Chaturthi every fortnight: Vinayaka Chaturthi in each bright half and Sankashti Chaturthi in each dark half. Magha Shukla Chaturthi is kept as Ganesh Jayanti, and Magha Krishna Chaturthi as Sakat Chauth in the north. Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi, this day, is the great one.
Offer 21 blades of durva with Ganesha's names on each day of the festival. Tradition holds durva most pleasing to him, and the offering is made for obstacles to clear.
Offer 21 modaks and share them as prasad with family, neighbours and children; the shared sweet is the heart of the festival.
Recite the Ganapati Atharvashirsha once, or 21 times, before the murti, for clear thinking and good beginnings.
Offer shami leaves and sindoor; many families make this their offering for a stalled task or a fresh start.
Hear or read the Syamantaka story and say the Simhah Prasenam verse; tradition holds that this lifts the blame of the sighting. It is a remedy, not a reason for fear.
Start a new study, account book or venture in the madhyahna with Ganesha's name: this is the classic day for beginnings.
Two years back, this year, and two ahead. Past years are kept rather than dropped so you can check the engine against a calendar you already have.
| Year | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Saturday, 7 September 2024 | past |
| 2025 | Wednesday, 27 August 2025 | past |
| 2026This year | Monday, 14 September 2026 | past |
| 2027 | Saturday, 4 September 2027 | upcoming |
| 2028 | Wednesday, 23 August 2028 | upcoming |
Every row is computed for New Delhi from the same ephemeris, not looked up. Sunrise decides which day a tithi names, and sunrise differs across India by more than an hour, so a date computed for Delhi can be a day out elsewhere.
In 2027, for New Delhi: Chaturthi ends at 12:26 PM, inside the midday window, so the puja time here stops there. Some calendars print the whole madhyahna, to 1:36 PM; the sthapana should be done while Chaturthi lasts.
There is no single authority that settles a Hindu festival date, and the divergence is genuine rather than sloppy. Three causes account for almost all of it.
So this page shows its working. If your pandit or your family almanac gives a different day, the instants above will usually show you exactly why — and that is more useful than a date asserted without one.
Saturday, 4 September 2027. It is Chaturthi of Shukla paksha in Bhadrapada, and that tithi runs from 3 Sep, 2:19 PM to 4 Sep, 12:26 PM.
Three honest reasons. The tithi can be running at the deciding moment on two days or on none. North India reckons the month purnimanta and the south and west amanta, which names the same krishna fortnight differently. And almanacs differ on which moment of the day decides an observance. The instants above are the astronomy; the day is an interpretation of them.
In New Delhi, Ganesh Chaturthi falls on Saturday, 4 September 2027. The sthapana and puja are done in the madhyahna while Chaturthi runs: 11:04 AM to 12:26 PM. Chaturthi runs from 2:19 PM (3 Sep) to 12:26 PM, and the moon is to be avoided 3 Sep, 2:19 PM to 8:09 PM; 9:40 AM to 8:47 PM. Times differ by city, so choose yours on this page.
The madhyahna on Chaturthi, the middle of the day, when Ganesha is held to have been born: 11:04 AM to 12:26 PM. If you cannot manage midday, choose an auspicious choghadiya the same day (Shubh: 7:35 AM to 9:10 AM; Chal: 12:20 PM to 1:55 PM; Labh: 1:55 PM to 3:30 PM; Amrit: 3:30 PM to 5:04 PM) and keep clear of Rahu Kaal (9:10 AM to 10:45 AM).
Yes, when midday is impossible: families and pandals that install after dark use the night's auspicious choghadiyas, Labh: 6:39 PM to 8:05 PM; Shubh: 9:30 PM to 10:55 PM; Amrit: 10:55 PM to 12:20 AM (5 Sep); Chal: 5 Sep, 12:20 AM to 1:45 AM; Labh: 5 Sep, 4:35 AM to 6:00 AM. The texts still prefer the madhyahna, so choose it when you can.
Because of Ganesha's curse: the Moon laughed at him when he fell from his mouse, and Ganesha decreed that whoever sees the moon on this Chaturthi will face a false accusation. Even Krishna, the story says, was blamed for stealing the Syamantaka jewel after glimpsing it. The time to avoid the moon in New Delhi is 3 Sep, 2:19 PM to 8:09 PM; 9:40 AM to 8:47 PM.
Do not worry. Tradition gives a remedy: hear or read the Syamantaka story, as told in the katha above, and say the verse Simhah Prasenam avadhit. In Andhra and Telangana families place a few grains of akshat on their heads after hearing the story.
Set a chowki with a red cloth and a heap of rice in the north-east or east of the home. Bathe, take the sankalp with the number of days, and in the madhyahna unveil and seat the clay murti with the Gananam tva verse or Om Shri Siddhivinayakaya Namah, avahayami, sthapayami. Offer water, panchamrit, cloth, sindoor, red flowers, 21 durva and 21 modaks, then do the aarti. The full steps are above.
Om Gam Ganapataye Namah is the everyday japa; the Vakratunda verse opens the puja; the Vedic Gananam tva invites him at the sthapana; and the Ganesh Gayatri, Om Ekadantaya vidmahe, is chanted 11 or 108 times. All of them are above, with meanings.
Parvati shaped Ganesha from turmeric paste and set him to guard her door; Shiva, stopped by the boy, cut off his head, then restored him with an elephant's head and made him lord of the ganas, to be worshipped first. The katha goes on to the Moon's curse and Krishna's Syamantaka jewel. The full katha is above.
A clay murti, a chowki with a red or yellow cloth, a kalash with mango leaves and a coconut, durva, red flowers, shami leaves, modaks and laddoos, sindoor, roli, sandal paste, akshat, a sacred thread and cloth, panchamrit, a ghee lamp, incense, camphor, betel leaves, fruit, and a tub of water for a home visarjan. The full list is above.
It is Ganesha's birthday, Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi. Ganesha removes obstacles and blesses beginnings, so he is welcomed home as a guest, worshipped for one and a half to ten days, and given a joyful farewell in the water, with the promise to return next year.
As many as the family decides at the sankalp: one and a half, three, five, seven or ten days. The ten days are a custom more than a rule. The public festival, shaped in Maharashtra, runs to Anant Chaturdashi, and a popular story, not found in the Puranas, says Ganesha wrote down the Mahabharata for Vyasa through these days.
On the day your sankalp named: the day after the sthapana for one and a half days, or the third, fifth, seventh or tenth day. The festival closes on Anant Chaturdashi, when the great processions take Ganesha to the water; its page gives that day's visarjan muhurat for New Delhi.
Do the uttar puja with a last aarti and bhog and the kshama prarthana, move the murti a little with akshat, then lower it gently into a tub or bucket of clean water with flowers and the cry Ganpati Bappa Morya. When the clay has dissolved, give the water and clay to your plants.
Set the altar in the north-east, east or north of the home, on a raised chowki; many families seat the murti so that whoever does the puja faces east or north. For a home, a seated Ganesha with a calm face is the usual choice, and many prefer the trunk curving to his left; a right-curving trunk is traditionally said to ask for stricter worship.
Not this one. In January and February come Sakat Chauth, Magha Krishna Chaturthi, a mothers' fast in the north, and Ganesh Jayanti, Magha Shukla Chaturthi. Every month also has a Vinayaka Chaturthi and a Sankashti Chaturthi. The great Ganesh Chaturthi is Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi, on Saturday, 4 September 2027.
Ganesha's worship on this day is far older, and the Peshwas' court in Pune celebrated it grandly. Public Ganeshas appeared in Pune in the early 1890s, Bhausaheb Rangari's among the first, and Bal Gangadhar Tilak championed the public, sarvajanik festival from 1893, to bring people together across caste and class, and the city pandals grew from that.
Modak above all, Ganesha's favourite: steamed ukadiche modak in Maharashtra, fried or mawa modak elsewhere. Laddoos, the kozhukattai, kadubu and undrallu of the south, bananas and coconut are offered too, then shared as prasad.
The murti invited for the festival is given its visarjan; your permanent home-shrine Ganesha stays where it is. If a clay murti cannot be immersed at once, many families do the uttar puja and move it a little from its seat with akshat as the farewell, and immerse it soon after.
