Ganesh Chaturthi Puja Vidhi · गणेश चतुर्थी पूजा विधि

How Ganesh Chaturthi is kept at home: installing the clay Ganesh, the puja with durva, red flowers and modak, not looking at the moon that night, and the visarjan, as the published guides describe it.

How the puja is done

When

Ganesh Chaturthi falls on Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi, the day Ganesh is said to have been born at midday. Most guides place the installation and puja in the madhyahna, the middle part of the day, worked out from your own sunrise and sunset; Bharat Discovery's account sets the main puja in the evening. See the Ganesh Chaturthi page for the date.

Samagri

A clay image of Ganesh, a chowki (low stool) and a red or yellow cloth
A kalash
Durva grass, red flowers, sindoor, roli, akshat and chandan
Modak or laddus for the bhog, fruits, a lamp and incense

Sthapana (installing Ganesh)

Bathe, clean the place of worship and spread the cloth on the chowki.
Install the clay Ganesh on the chowki and set the kalash before him.

The puja

Worship him with the sixteen offerings (shodashopachara), as your puja book gives them.
Offer sindoor and red flowers, and 21 blades of durva grass.
Offer modak or laddus, his favourite sweets, as bhog.
Do not offer tulsi leaves to Ganesh.
Close with the aarti Jai Ganesh Deva; many also recite the Ganesh Chalisa.

Do not look at the moon

On this one night, avoid looking at the moon: by tradition, seeing it brings a false accusation. The story behind this is Krishna and the Syamantaka jewel.
If you see the moon by mistake, read or hear the story of the Syamantaka jewel.

How many days, and visarjan

Families keep Ganesh at home for a day and a half, or three, five, seven or ten days; the ten-day festival ends on Anant Chaturdashi. How many days is a family custom, not a fixed rule.
At the end, bid him farewell with the aarti and immerse the image in water with respect.

Customs differ by region and community: follow your family's way where it differs.

These steps are written in our own words; each appears in at least two of the published sources linked below, and steps found in only one source are left out. Puja customs differ by family, region and tradition; your family priest or family custom comes first.

About this text

Ganesh Chaturthi celebrates the birth of Ganesh, the remover of obstacles, who is worshipped first in every puja. Families bring a clay image of Ganesh home, worship him for a day and a half up to ten days, and then immerse the image. This page gives the home observance as the published guides listed below describe it. Customs differ by region and community: follow your family's way where it differs.