🐘 Ganesh Chaturthi (& Rishi Panchami) 2027
Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi — the birth of Ganapati and his installation at home (midday), modak, 21 durva, no moon-sighting that night; Rishi Panchami the next day, visarjan on Anant Chaturdashi on the tenth day.
- Ganesh Chaturthi — installation (midday) — Saturday, 4 September 2027
- 1½-day visarjan — Sunday, 5 September 2027
- Rishi Panchami (women's vrat) — Sunday, 5 September 2027
- 5-day visarjan — Wednesday, 8 September 2027
- 7-day visarjan — Friday, 10 September 2027
- Anant Chaturdashi — 10-day visarjan — Tuesday, 14 September 2027
Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated on the Chaturthi of the Shukla Paksha of Bhadrapada month — the day after Hartalika Teej. Ganesha was born at midday on this day, so the installation muhurat is in the afternoon (around Abhijit). The clay Ganapati stays at home for one-and-a-half, three, five, seven or ten days and is immersed on Anant Chaturdashi — 'Ganpati Bappa Morya, pudhchya varshi lavkar ya'.
The next day, Bhadrapada Shukla Panchami, is Rishi Panchami — the women's Saptarishi vrat (purification from the impurity of menstruation and gratitude to the seven sages), a meal of produce grown without the plough; special in Nepal, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. Below are this year's dates (from installation to visarjan), the midday muhurat, vidhi, samagri, katha, the modak bhog and regional customs.
Significance — why this vrat
Ganesha is the remover of obstacles and the maker of auspiciousness — the beginning of every work; Bhadrapada Chaturthi is his birth tithi — installation at midday (the second part of the day from sunrise, roughly 11 am-1:30 pm); Lokmanya Tilak made it a public festival in 1893 (Maharashtra).
No moon-sighting that night — by Ganesha's curse the 'mithya dosha' (a false accusation); if seen, recite 'Simhah prasenam avadhit…' (the Syamantaka story); the same slander fell on Krishna. On Sankashti Chaturthi (the Krishna Chaturthi of every month) arghya is offered to the moon, not on this Chaturthi.
Rishi Panchami — worship of Kashyapa, Atri, Bharadwaja, Vishwamitra, Gautama, Jamadagni, Vasishtha (the Saptarishis) + Arundhati; a women's vrat for purification from unknowing faults during menstruation; one meal of 'unploughed' produce (sama/morhan/fruit); the datiwan bath on the third day of Teej in Nepal.
Puja vidhi (step by step)
This is the household vidhi — installation and prana-pratishtha at midday on Chaturthi, daily morning and evening puja-aarti-modak, rishi puja on Panchami, visarjan at the end.
- Preparation (a day earlier/with Hartalika): a clay (shadu) Ganesha idol (eco-friendly, no chemical paint, 1-2 feet for the home), decoration of the mandap/seat (flowers, banana stems, lights, makhar), red/yellow cloth, kalash; cleaning the house.
- Chaturthi — the midday muhurat (Abhijit/tithi above; midday ≈ the middle part of the day): bring the idol chanting 'Ganpati Bappa Morya', face covered; install facing east/north-east; Riddhi-Siddhi (or betel nuts) to Ganapati's right; kalash-Varuna puja; prana-pratishtha — invoking life into the idol with 'Om Gam Ganapataye Namah' (a priest or the elder of the house — mantras from the book).
- Shodashopachara puja: bath (water-panchamrit), clothes (janeu, dhoti-uparna), sindoor/red sandalwood, 21 durva blades (three/five-leaved, in pairs), shami leaves, red and yellow flowers (hibiscus-marigold), 21 modaks (or laddoos), coconut, paan-supari, lamp and incense; 'Vakratunda mahakaya…', Ganesha Atharvashirsha (if possible), the Sankatnashan Ganesha Stotra; the aarti 'Sukhkarta Dukhharta' / 'Jai Ganesh Deva'.
- Daily (for as many days as he stays): aarti morning and evening, durva, bhog of modak/laddoo/fruit, the Atharvashirsha or 'Om Gam Ganapataye Namah' 108 times; prasad to family and neighbours; no tamasic food or quarrels while Ganapati is at home; do not leave the idol alone (someone stays at home).
- Do not look at the moon on Chaturthi night (curtain/eyes down); if seen, recite the Syamantaka mantra 'Simhah prasenam avadhit simho Jambavata hatah, sukumaraka ma rodis tava hyesha Syamantakah'.
- Rishi Panchami (the next day, women): a morning bath (in Nepal-Rajasthan cleaning the teeth with a datiwan/apamarga twig, a clay paste), worship of the Saptarishis and Arundhati (picture/seven betel nuts), charity of seven kinds of grain, one meal of 'unploughed' produce (sama/morhan/bhagar rice, fruit, milk); the katha (Uttanka-Vidarbha); the vrat for purification from the impurity of menstruation and the family's welfare.
- Visarjan (on the 1½/3rd/5th/7th/10th day — dates above): the uttar-puja — aarti, coconut, dakshina, 'pudhchya varshi lavkar ya'; move the idol slightly with akshat and flowers (the sign of farewell), curd-sugar/modak alongside; elders and children together; immersion in a river/pond/artificial tank/a bucket-tub at home (clay idol) — the water then to the plants; the water and clay of the immersion with respect.
- Anant Chaturdashi (the tenth day): the immersion procession (dhol, gulal); the Anant vrat the same day (Vishnu's 14-knot Anant thread — a separate page); Pitru Paksha from the next day.
Puja samagri checklist
A clay idol, 21 durva, 21 modaks, red flowers — the essence of Ganapati's puja; unploughed grain for Rishi Panchami.
- Clay (shadu) Ganesha idol, wooden seat/mandap, red-yellow cloth, makhar/decoration, banana stems, flower strings
- Kalash, coconut, mango leaves, betel nuts (Riddhi-Siddhi), coin, mauli, akshat
- Durva (21 pairs, 3/5-leaved), shami leaves, red and yellow flowers (hibiscus-marigold-kaner), garland, patri (21 leaves — Maharashtra)
- Sindoor, red sandalwood, turmeric, kumkum, janeu, clothes (dhoti-uparna/yellow-red), perfume
- Bhog: 21 modaks (steamed/fried), besan-boondi laddoo, panchamrit, fruit (banana-apple-pomegranate), coconut, paan-supari-cloves-cardamom, panchakhadya
- Ghee lamp, incense, camphor, agarbatti, aarti thali, bell, conch
- Ganesha Atharvashirsha/stotra/aarti book, Sankatnashan stotra
- Rishi Panchami: Saptarishi picture/7 betel nuts, an Arundhati symbol, a datiwan/apamarga twig, seven kinds of grain (charity), sama/morhan/bhagar rice, milk and fruit
- Visarjan: curd-sugar/modak (alongside), akshat and flowers, coconut, artificial tank/tub (at home), gulal
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Open panchang →Vrat katha (the story)
Before her bath Parvati made a boy from the paste of her body, breathed life into him and set him to guard the door — 'let no one in'. Shiva came, the boy stopped him; in anger Shiva cut off his head with the trident. At Parvati's lament and fierce form Shiva sent the ganas — 'bring the head of the first creature found sleeping with its head to the north' — an elephant's head came; Shiva revived the boy with the elephant's face, made him lord of the ganas (Ganapati) and granted — 'your name first in every puja'. Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi, midday.
The moon story — one Chaturthi night Ganesha, returning on his mouse after eating modaks, fell; the moon laughed. Ganesha cursed — 'whoever sees you on this night will bear a false slander'. On the moon's plea he limited the curse to this one night (Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi). In the Dwapara age Krishna saw the moon's reflection in milk on this night and was falsely accused of stealing the Syamantaka jewel — he fought Jambavan and returned the jewel, and only then was the slander erased; hence the Syamantaka story/mantra if the moon is seen.
The Rishi Panchami story — Sushila, wife of the Brahmin Uttanka in Vidarbha; their widowed daughter returned home and one day worms appeared in her body. The father saw in meditation — in a previous birth she had touched the kitchen and vessels while menstruating, this was the fruit. Uttanka had his daughter keep the Rishi Panchami vrat — Saptarishi puja, unploughed grain, charity — the fault was erased. Hence women keep this vrat for purification from unknowing faults and gratitude to the rishis (the tradition of knowledge).
Modak — Bappa's favourite; the unploughed meal of Rishi Panchami
The ukadiche modak (a steamed rice-flour pouch with a coconut-jaggery filling) is Maharashtra's signature; fried modak/besan-boondi laddoo in the north; 21 in number. On Rishi Panchami sama/morhan (bhagar) rice — produce grown without bullock or plough.
- Ukadiche modak (21): filling — 1 grated coconut + 1 cup jaggery + cardamom-poppy seeds, on a low flame; covering — 1 cup rice flour kneaded in 1¼ cups boiling water with ghee and salt; shape into pouches and steam 10-12 minutes; with ghee
- Fried modak (maida-khoya), besan-boondi laddoo, panchakhadya (coconut-poppy-dry fruits-sugar-ghee), puran poli, shrikhand-poori, varan-bhaat (the naivedya of Maharashtra)
- Daily bhog: modak/laddoo, fruit, durva; curd-sugar or modak alongside on the visarjan day
- Rishi Panchami: sama/morhan/bhagar rice (unploughed produce), milk-curd, fruit, unploughed vegetables (tubers and roots), rock salt — one meal; no grain grown with bullock and plough
- During Ganapati's stay: sattvik food, no onion-garlic-meat; prasad shared daily
Regional customs
The public Ganeshotsav of Maharashtra, the Vinayaka Chavithi of the south, the home Ganapati of the north — Bappa is everywhere.
A custom, tale, song or dish heard from your grandmother — 2-4 lines; after reading we add it on this page with your region's name (the phone is never shown — only to ask you back).
✅ Received — after reading we will add it on this page in 1-2 days. Thank you!Something went wrong — please try again.⏳ Sending…Do's and don'ts
✅ Do
- Installation at midday (Abhijit/tithi above), a clay idol, facing east/north-east
- 21 durva, 21 modaks, red flowers; aarti morning and evening daily; the idol never left alone
- Do not look at the moon on Chaturthi night; if seen, the Syamantaka mantra
- Women do the Saptarishi puja, the unploughed meal and charity on Rishi Panchami
- Immersion in a tub/artificial tank at home — the water to the plants; no plaster idol
❌ Don't
- No plaster-of-Paris/chemical-painted idol — it pollutes rivers and ponds; no thermocol decoration
- No Tulsi for Ganapati (a particular story — a curse); no ketaki; no broken durva
- No tamasic food, quarrels or leaving the house empty while Ganapati stays
- No intoxication in the immersion procession, no loud sound after 10 pm, no children in deep water
- No ploughed grain (wheat-rice-dal) for those keeping Rishi Panchami
Frequently asked questions
When is Ganesh Chaturthi in 2027?
The date at the top is this year's Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi — from panchang calculations; the midday installation muhurat (Abhijit/tithi window), Rishi Panchami and the 1½/5/7/10-day visarjan dates (Anant Chaturdashi) are in the table too.
The correct time for installation?
Madhyahna Kaal — the middle of the three parts of the day (about 10:30 am-1:30 pm), Abhijit (~11:40-12:30) is best within it; the day on which the Chaturthi tithi is present at midday is the day; avoid Rahu Kaal — times above.
Why not look at the moon that night?
By Ganesha's curse, seeing the moon on the night of Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi brings a mithya-kalank (a false accusation) — the Syamantaka jewel accusation fell on Krishna; if seen by mistake, recite the mantra 'Simhah prasenam avadhit…'/the Syamantaka story. On the other Chaturthis (Sankashti) arghya is offered to the moon.
How many days to keep Ganapati?
One-and-a-half, three, five, seven or ten days (Anant Chaturdashi) — by family tradition/convenience; it is good to keep the same number every year once fixed; one-and-a-half days is the simplest for a home. All the visarjan dates are above.
Who keeps the Rishi Panchami vrat and why?
Women — for purification from unknowing faults during menstruation and gratitude to the Saptarishis; one meal of unploughed grain (sama/morhan), Saptarishi-Arundhati puja, charity; common in Nepal, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and UP; men may keep it too.
How to do the visarjan at home?
A clay idol in a large tub/bucket/drum — slowly into the water after the uttar-puja; once dissolved, that clay-water into pots/the garden; if it is plaster, in the municipal artificial tank. In a river only clay, without decoration or plastic.
Enter your WhatsApp number — a day before every major vrat you get the date, muhurat and samagri checklist. Free; stop any time.
✅ Saved — you will get a message a day before the next vrat.Something went wrong — please try again.⏳ Saving…Also read: Hartalika Teej (a day earlier) · Anant Chaturdashi (the visarjan day) · Sakat Chauth (Ganesha's Magha Chaturthi) · Ganesha aarti & Atharvashirsha
⚠️ This description follows traditional vidhi and folk belief; the custom of your family and mandal comes first. A clay idol, with immersion mindful of the environment.
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