Ganesh Utsav The Ten-Day Festival of Ganpati

Daily puja & aarti timings

Ganesh Sthapana is performed only once, on Ganesh Chaturthi - the murti is not re-consecrated afterwards. Through the days your Ganpati stays, it is worshipped daily with aarti in these auspicious windows, computed for Mumbai, Maharashtra. They repeat every festival day, shifting a few minutes as sunrise and sunset move:

The Brahma Muhurta before dawn is the ideal window for morning japa and meditation. For any special puja, offering or new undertaking on the days in between, follow that day’s auspicious Choghadiya and avoid Rahu Kala, Yamaganda and Gulika Kala.

How long will your Ganpati stay?

Pick how many days your Ganpati will stay to see the visarjan date and the day’s auspicious immersion windows (and the times to avoid) - computed for Mumbai, Maharashtra. The ten-day Ganpati is immersed on Anant Chaturdashi.

Visarjan - the farewell

On the immersion day the family performs the uttar puja (concluding worship), offers a final aarti, and gently moves the idol, asking forgiveness for any lapse in the worship. The Ganpati is then carried to a river, lake, sea or an eco-friendly immersion tank, amid singing and the beloved cry - “Ganpati Bappa Morya, Pudhchya Varshi Laukar Ya” (“Lord Ganpati, come again soon next year”). There is no single fixed muhurat for visarjan: it is done during the day’s good Choghadiya periods, avoiding Rahu Kala, Yamaganda and Gulika Kala - which the selector above shows for your day and city.

Gauri Pujan & Gauri Visarjan

Gauri - Parvati, the mother of Ganesha, honoured in Maharashtra as Mahalakshmi - visits her maternal home for three days during Ganesh Utsav, much as a daughter returns for the festival. The three days follow the nakshatra: Avahana (welcoming) on the day Anuradha nakshatra prevails, Puja on Jyeshtha, and Visarjan on Mula. Married women keep the vrat for the welfare and prosperity of the family, with an elaborate mahanaivedya feast on the Puja day. The five-day Ganpati often immerses on the Gauri Visarjan day, so the mother and son leave together.

Dates shown use the tithi (Bhadrapada Shukla Shashthi / Saptami / Ashtami) for Mumbai, Maharashtra; the classic observance follows the Anuradha, Jyeshtha and Mula nakshatras, which can shift the exact day - follow your local Panchang.

Anant Chaturdashi - the tenth day

The ten-day Ganesh Utsav closes on Anant Chaturdashi (Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturdashi), this year on Friday, 25 September 2026 in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is the day of the great public visarjan processions, when the largest sarvajanik idols are carried to the water with drums, dance and the chant of “Ganpati Bappa Morya”. The day is also kept as the Ananta Vrat, worshipping Vishnu as Ananta. In Pune, the five Manache Ganpati lead the grand procession in a fixed order of honour.

The famous Ganpatis of Maharashtra

The two great homes of Ganesh Utsav each have their icons - Pune keeps its five Manache Ganpati in a fixed order of honour, while Mumbai celebrates its larger-than-life “cha Raja” mandals.

What is Ganesh Utsav?

Ganesh Utsav (Ganeshotsav) is the ten-day festival of Lord Ganesha, the remover of obstacles and lord of beginnings. It opens on Ganesh Chaturthi - Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi - when clay idols are installed at home and in public pandals with the Pranapratishtha performed at midday, Ganesha’s birth-hour. The idol is worshipped for a chosen number of days - 1.5, 3, 5, 7 or 10 - and then carried in joyful procession for visarjan (immersion). The grandest observance is in Maharashtra and Goa, where the ten-day festival closes on Anant Chaturdashi.

The story of Ganesha’s birth

Goddess Parvati fashioned a boy from the turmeric paste of her body and set him to guard her door. When Shiva returned and the boy barred his way, Shiva in anger severed his head. To console the grieving Parvati, Shiva fixed the head of an elephant upon him and restored him to life, declaring that this child - Ganesha - would be worshipped first among all gods, before any undertaking. Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi is honoured as his birthday, and installing him at midday with durva grass, red flowers and modak is believed to bless the household with success in every new venture through the year.