When is Ganesh Chaturthi 2026?
Ganesh Chaturthi 2026 falls on Monday, 14 September 2026, on Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi. It opens the ten-day Ganeshotsav, which culminates in Ganesh Visarjan on Anant Chaturdashi (Friday, 25 September 2026) — the day the idols are carried in grand processions and immersed in water.
What is Ganesh Chaturthi?
Ganesh Chaturthi — also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi — celebrates the birth of Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed deity revered as the remover of obstacles and the god of beginnings and wisdom. Nowhere is it grander than in Maharashtra, where families and public pandals install clay idols of Ganesha and worship them with daily aarti, music and devotion. Mumbai alone installs well over 150,000 Ganesha idols each year.
Rituals & how it is celebrated
- Sthapana (installation) — the idol is welcomed home or into a pandal and consecrated with pran pratishtha.
- Modak offering — Ganesha's favourite sweet dumpling, offered daily alongside durva grass and red flowers.
- Aarti & bhajans — morning and evening prayers, often with community gatherings.
- Ganeshotsav pandals — elaborately themed public celebrations across Maharashtra.
- Visarjan — the idol is carried in procession and immersed with chants of "Ganpati Bappa Morya".
Anant Chaturdashi & Ganesh Visarjan
The festival closes on Anant Chaturdashi (Friday, 25 September 2026), the tenth day, when the biggest immersion processions take place. Devotees bid farewell to Ganesha with the prayer that he return again next year — "Ganpati Bappa Morya, Pudhchya Varshi Lavkar Ya." Many households also perform the immersion earlier, on the 1.5th, 3rd, 5th or 7th day.
Ganesh Chaturthi in the Marathi Calendar
Ganeshotsav is the highlight of the Bhadrapada month. See every tithi and festival for the year on the Marathi Calendar 2026 — including Gudi Padwa, Bail Pola, Narali Pournima and Diwali.
Frequently asked questions
When is Ganesh Chaturthi 2026?
Ganesh Chaturthi 2026 falls on Monday, 14 September 2026. It opens a 10-day Ganeshotsav ending with Ganesh Visarjan on Anant Chaturdashi, Friday, 25 September 2026.
What is Ganesh Chaturthi?
Also called Vinayaka Chaturthi, it celebrates the birth of Lord Ganesha, the remover of obstacles. Clay idols are installed at homes and public pandals, worshipped for up to ten days, then immersed in water.
When is Ganesh Visarjan 2026?
The main immersion takes place on Anant Chaturdashi, Friday, 25 September 2026. Some households immerse on the 1.5th, 3rd, 5th or 7th day instead.
What is offered to Lord Ganesha?
Modak — a sweet dumpling said to be Ganesha's favourite — along with durva grass, red flowers and coconut.