When is Ganesh Chaturthi?
The answer
Saturday, 4 September 2027
Ganesha installed, for a day or ten.
Madhyahna Kaal puja time
The window
11:04 AM – 12:26 PM
- Lasts
- 1h 22m
- Sunset
- 6:39 PM
- Madhyahna Kaal
- 11:04 AM – 1:36 PM
Why that day
- The tithi it is
- Bhadrapada Shukla 4
This one is kept at MIDDAY, not at sunrise. The tithi has to cover the middle of the day — Ganesha is held to have been born in that window — and a calendar read the ordinary way lands a day late when the tithi is still there at dawn but gone by noon.
And after that
Wednesday, 23 August 2028
Bhadrapada Shukla 4
11:05 AM – 1:41 PM
Tuesday, 11 September 2029
Bhadrapada Shukla 4
11:02 AM – 1:32 PM
How this date is worked out
A festival is a position, not a date. The lunar month is named by the sidereal sign the Sun stands in at the new moon that opens it, and the tithi is the Moon's distance from the Sun in twelve-degree steps. Both come from the same ephemeris this site casts birth charts with.
North India reckons a month from full moon to full moon, so the dark fortnight carries the next month's name — the same day is Shravana Krishna Tritiya in Pune and Bhadrapada Krishna Tritiya in Delhi. These dates use the northern reckoning, and the tithi is printed above so there is nothing to take on trust.
Why it is kept
Ganesh Chaturthi is Ganesha's birthday — Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi, at midday, which is why this festival's date is settled by noon and not by sunrise. A clay idol is installed at home, served for anywhere from a day and a half to ten, and given to water on Anant Chaturdashi. The clay matters: it is meant to return to what it came from. The arrival and the leaving are both the festival.
The story behind it
Born
Before her bath Parvati made a boy from the paste on her own body and gave him life. Guard the door, she said; let no one in. He did exactly that. Shiva came home, the boy stopped him, and not knowing each other, the boy lost his head.
The elephant's head
Facing Parvati's grief, Shiva sent his ganas north with an instruction: bring the head of the first living thing you find. They returned with an elephant's. It was joined, the boy lived again, and he has been Gajanana since.
Why he is worshipped first
Shiva's boon was that no undertaking begins without Ganesha. A wedding, a new house, a new ledger, a new anything — he is the first name written.
Modak and durva
The modak is plain outside and sweet within; the reward is inside, not on display. Durva is grass that grows anywhere — the cheapest thing on the tray is the one he is said to love most, which is the whole point.
Not looking at the moon
The moon laughed at his form, and the story holds that seeing it on this night brings a false accusation. Krishna was accused of stealing the Syamantaka jewel after doing exactly that. Anyone who has looked is told to hear this story — that is the remedy.
What to keep ready
- A clay Ganesha idol
- A low table (chowki) and red or yellow cloth
- Kalash, coconut, mango leaves
- Sacred thread, mauli, roli, whole rice (akshat)
- Durva grass — 21 knots
- Red flowers, hibiscus above all
- Modak or laddu
- Panchamrit — milk, curd, ghee, honey, sugar
- Incense, lamp, camphor
- Betel leaf, areca nut, cardamom, clove
- Fruit and sweets
- Ganga water
How the puja is done
1
Bathe and resolve
Bathe, wear clean clothes, and set the place east or north-east. Take water, rice and a flower in hand and make the sankalp — this is when you decide how many days he stays.
2
The seat and the installing
Red or yellow cloth on a low table, a small heap of rice, the idol on it, facing east or west. Do this inside the madhyahna window given above.
3
Calling him in
Sprinkle Ganga water with durva and invoke — Om Gam Ganapataye Namah. This is the moment the idol becomes a guest.
4
The sixteen offerings
In order: seat, water for the feet, arghya, achman, bath, panchamrit bath, cloth, sacred thread, sandal, rice, flowers, durva, incense, lamp, food, betel.
5
Durva and modak
Twenty-one knots of durva, then modak or laddu as bhog, then water.
6
Aarti and pardon
Aarti with camphor, three circumambulations, and the kshama prarthana at the end — for whatever the puja missed.
7
Each day after
Bhog and aarti twice a day for as long as he stays. On the last day, curd and rice, then the water.
What to do
- Install in the madhyahna window given above — that is the hour he is held to have been born in.
- Offer durva in twenty-one knots. A Ganesha puja without durva is treated as incomplete.
- Bhog and aarti twice a day for as many days as the sankalp was taken for. Stopping midway is not done.
- Immerse in water that flows, or where clay will dissolve. That is why the idol is clay to begin with.
What not to do
- No tulsi. He is the one deity it is forbidden for — in the story she asked him to marry her, he refused, and each cursed the other.
- Do not look at the moon on this night. It is the night the moon laughed at him and was cursed for it; seeing it is said to bring a false accusation.
- No plaster-of-Paris idol. It does not dissolve, which empties the immersion of its whole point.
- Do not install a chipped or broken idol.
The aarti
Jai Ganesh Jai Ganesh Deva
जय गणेश जय गणेश जय गणेश देवा।
माता जाकी पार्वती पिता महादेवा॥
एक दंत दयावंत चार भुजा धारी।
माथे सिंदूर सोहे मूसे की सवारी॥
अंधन को आँख देत कोढ़िन को काया।
बाँझन को पुत्र देत निर्धन को माया॥
पान चढ़े फूल चढ़े और चढ़े मेवा।
लड्डुअन का भोग लगे संत करें सेवा॥
दीनन की लाज रखो शंभु सुतवारी।
कामना को पूर्ण करो जग बलिहारी॥
The sky has a calendar. So do you.
The same engine reads your own birth moment — every house, every graha, every period with dates.