A ten-day festival celebrating the birth of Lord Ganesha, culminating in the immersion of his idol (visarjan).
While the worship of Ganesha as remover of obstacles is ancient, the modern public celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi as a large community festival is often credited to Lokmanya Tilak, who popularised it in Maharashtra in the late 19th century as a way to unite people during the freedom movement.
The festival marks Ganesha's birth and is considered highly auspicious for new beginnings — many businesses and households welcome a Ganesha idol at the start of any major undertaking.
Ganesha is said to have been created by Goddess Parvati from turmeric paste to guard her chamber; when he barred Shiva's entry, Shiva beheaded him, later restoring him to life with an elephant's head.
Most prominent in Maharashtra, Goa and parts of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh as large public pandal celebrations; in South India it is often a quieter, home-based observance alongside Vinayaka Chaturthi traditions.
A clay idol of Ganesha is installed at home or in community pandals, worshipped daily with offerings of modak (his favourite sweet) and flowers, and immersed in a water body after a period of 1.5, 5, 7 or 11 days, most commonly 10.
The installation (pranapratishtha) invokes life into the idol, followed by daily aarti and offerings; the festival closes with a procession to immerse the idol, symbolising Ganesha's return to Mount Kailash.
Elaborate, colourful pandals with themed decorations are common in public celebrations; home altars are typically decorated with flowers, lights and turmeric-rice designs.
Modak — a steamed or fried dumpling with a coconut-jaggery filling — is the festival's signature offering, alongside laddoos and other sweets.
The immersion (visarjan) symbolises the cycle of creation and dissolution, and Ganesha's return to Mount Kailash after blessing devotees during his stay.
Falls on the fourth day (Chaturthi) of the bright fortnight (Shukla Paksha) in the Hindu month of Bhadrapada, usually in August or September.
