Festivals · Ganesh Chaturthi
Ganesh Chaturthi 2026
The elephant-headed remover of obstacles arrives, stays ten days, and leaves to a farewell the whole street joins — with aarti, modak, and music that carries him to the water.
The short answer
Ganesh Chaturthi 2026 falls on Monday, 14 September 2026.
The festival runs for ten days, concluding on Anant Chaturdashi (around 23 September 2026), when the idol is carried to the water for the visarjan.
The meaning
What Ganesh Chaturthi celebrates
Ganesh Chaturthi welcomes Ganesha — the remover of obstacles, the god of beginnings — into the home, and treats him as an honoured guest for ten days.
The remover of obstacles
Ganesha is the god called on before any undertaking, because he clears the way. His festival is a long, public thank-you for the paths that opened and the troubles that did not.
The god of beginnings
Every new venture in the Indian household begins with Ganesha. Welcoming him into the home is a way of asking the year's new work to begin well, and of putting wisdom before haste.
A homecoming
For ten days the house treats Ganesha as a guest of honour — fed first, offered the best seat, and included in everything. When he leaves, it is with a promise to return.
The ritual
How Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated
The festival has a clear shape — an arrival, ten days of daily devotion, and a farewell that turns into a procession.
Welcoming the idol
A clay idol of Ganesha is brought home or into a neighbourhood pandal and installed with a small ceremony. The seat is prepared, the idol is settled, and the household formally welcomes its guest.
Daily aarti and modak
Each day brings an aarti — the waving of a lamp before the idol — and an offering of modak, the sweet steamed dumpling said to be Ganesha's favourite. The kitchen keeps a steady supply through all ten days.
The neighbourhood pandal
In many places the celebration is communal: a pandal raised on the street, an idol larger than any home could hold, and an evening gathering that turns the block into a shared living room.
Anant Chaturdashi and visarjan
On the tenth day the idol is carried to the water in a long, singing procession and immersed, sending Ganesha home until next year. The send-off is joyful and loud — drums, dancing, and the promise of return.
The setting
Ganesh Chaturthi decorations
The idol sits at the centre of the decoration, raised on a small throne and dressed with flowers — marigold garlands, a canopy of cloth, and the red and gold of a seat made ready for a guest of honour. Around it the house arranges itself to receive him.
The table
Ganesh Chaturthi food
Modak is the festival's signature — steamed dumplings of rice flour filled with coconut and jaggery — offered to Ganesha and then shared with the house. See our recipes for the dishes and the music we would set behind them.
The sound
Music for Ganesh Chaturthi
Ganesh Chaturthi has two sounds — the low, steady aarti of the ten days, and the full-throated procession of the visarjan. The music moves between them.
We keep a Ganesh Chaturthi palette in our festival music section — aarti for the quiet days, dhol and processional rhythm for the send-off — and it lives on the listen page with the rest of the catalogue.
Questions
Ganesh Chaturthi, answered
- When is Ganesh Chaturthi 2026?
- Ganesh Chaturthi 2026 falls on Monday, 14 September 2026. The festival runs for ten days, concluding on Anant Chaturdashi, around 23 September 2026.
- What is Ganesh Chaturthi?
- Ganesh Chaturthi marks the arrival of Ganesha, the elephant-headed god of wisdom and the remover of obstacles. He is honoured at the start of any new venture, and the festival treats him as an honoured guest in the home.
- How is Ganesh Chaturthi celebrated?
- A clay idol of Ganesha is welcomed into the home or a neighbourhood pandal, and offered daily aarti and sweets — especially modak, said to be his favourite. On the last day the idol is carried to the water in a farewell procession.
- How long is Ganesh Chaturthi?
- Ten days. The festival begins with the installation of the idol and ends on Anant Chaturdashi with the visarjan, when the idol is immersed and Ganesha is sent on his way with the promise to return next year.