Ganesh Chaturthi 2026: Date, Puja Muhurat, Tithi and Visarjan

Ganesh Chaturthi, the festival that marks the birth of Lord Ganesha will be celebrated on Monday, September 14. The celebrations last for 10 days in different parts of the country. While some calendars and social media posts point to September 13, the correct date is decided by the Chaturthi Tithi that prevails during the Madhyahna (midday) period and this year that falls on the 14th.

Ganesh Chaturthi: Tithi and Muhurat

According to Panchang calculations, the Shukla Paksha Chaturthi Tithi of the Bhadrapada month begins at 7:06 am on September 14 and continues until 7:44 am on September 15. Since Lord Ganesha's puja is traditionally performed during Madhyahna Kaal, and the Chaturthi Tithi governs that midday window on the 14th, this becomes the main day for Ganpati Sthapana and worship — not the 13th.

Puja Muhurat is location-specific rather than uniform across India. In New Delhi, the Madhyahna Ganesha Puja Muhurat falls between roughly 11:02 am and 1:31 pm, while in Mumbai it runs from about 11:20 am to 1:48 pm. Devotees are advised to check a city-specific Panchang, since exact timings shift slightly with local sunrise and sunset. The rituals typically include cleaning and decorating the puja space, installing the idol, performing Pran Pratishtha (invoking life into the idol), and offering flowers, durva grass, modaks, coconut, and fruit, followed by aarti.

Read more about tithi and puja muhrat here.

Visarjan Date and Holiday Status

The festival also called Vinayaka Chaturthi or Vinayaka Chavithi in different regions, traditionally runs for ten days. This year it culminates on Anant Chaturdashi, Friday, September 25, 2026, when Ganesh Visarjan the ceremonial immersion of the idol in water takes place across the country. Many families, however, follow shorter customs, immersing the idol after one-and-a-half, three, five, or seven days rather than the full ten.

On the question of holidays: Ganesh Chaturthi is not one of India's three national public holidays (Republic Day, Independence Day, and Gandhi Jayanti). It is classified as a restricted/optional holiday nationally, meaning government offices in most states stay open, though employees may opt to take it as leave. It is, however, a gazetted state holiday in states where the festival is celebrated with the greatest fervour including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, and Odisha where schools, banks, and many businesses do close, alongside stock exchanges (NSE/BSE) observing a trading holiday.

Ganesh Chaturthi honours Lord Ganesha as the remover of obstacles and the deity of wisdom and new beginnings, and its public form as a community festival is widely credited to freedom fighter Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, who popularised it in 1893 to unite people during the independence movement.

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