Ganesh Chaturthi Celebration 2024 – Ganapati Bappa Morya!

One of the much-awaited Hindu annual festivals is Ganesh Chaturthi, an observance honoring Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed deity. The eldest child of Lord Shiva and Goddess Durga, Ganesha, is also named Ganapati or Vinayak. He is revered as the deva of intellect, the messiah of people from distress, and a patron of art. He is the one with the tusk, Ekdanta, and the face of an elephant, Gajanana.

According to the Hindu Purnimata calendar, the celebration takes place on the Chaturthi of Shukla Paksha in the month of Bhadrapada, meaning the fourth day of the fortnight between the new moon and the full moon of the lunisolar calendar’s sixth month Bhadon. Animated rituals, prayer offerings, extravagant embellishments, and sweets, with various public performances, span over nearly 10 days. At the end of this period, the visharjan or idol immersion takes place.

Ganesh Chaturthi 2024 date & time

For the year 2024, the Ganesh Chaturthi falls on 7 September, Saturday.

• the starting date of Ganesh Chaturthi 2024 is from 6 September at 03:01 PM
• the ending date of Ganesh Chaturthi 2024 is on 7 September at 05:37 PM

The muhurat or the auspicious moment for puja, is, however, different across cities in India:

The festivity of Ganesh Chaturthi ends after 10 days on Anant Chaturdashi, which is also known as Ganesh Visarjan Day. On Anant Chaturdashi, devotees immerse the idol of Lord Ganesha in a water body after a gala street procession.

Please note that it is believed one should not sight the moon on Ganesh Chaturthi. Sighting the moon on Ganesh Chaturthi creates Mithya Dosham or Mithya Kalank, which means a false accusation of stealing something. Depending on the start and end time of Chaturthi Tithi, the sighting of the moon might be prohibited for two consecutive days.

How is the festival celebrated?

Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated in homes, temples, and public spaces where huge decorative pandals or mandaps are structured to house the clay idols of Ganapati. In homes, people install small clay statues or place a picture of Lord Ganesha at the entrance, hoping for an obstacle-free and lucky new beginning.

Funds are collected for public celebrations, and pandals are built. Beyond the religious significance, this spurs cultural activities. Singers and theatre artists perform on stages on one side, and simultaneously, most places also see blood donation camps, free health check-ups, donations, and food distribution among the poor.

Aarti songs or bhajans dedicated to the Lord reverberate in the air. In many places, you’d also feel like dancing in devotion as Bollywood numbers like Deva Shree Ganesha or Sadda Dil Bhi Tu (Ga Ga Ga Ganapati) blare through the speakers. Post the 10th day, the idol is taken out on a procession and immersed in a nearby waterbody. There’s a whole lot of singing, dancing, and chanting ‘Jai Ganapati!’ that goes on during Visharjan, making it one gala affair.

Decorations during Ganesh Chaturthi

With every place, both home and public spaces, becoming dotted with small and mighty idols of Ganapati, extravagant decorations ensue. The idols are usually ordered a month or so before from the local artisans. Other puja accessories and decoratives, including LED lights, wall hangings, etc., are bought and kept ready days ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi.

Flowers are a must. Offering red flowers (red hibiscus) is often considered auspicious, and if not available, other flowers with Tulsi leaves can be used. Durva grass, an indispensable inclusion in the rituals, is a herb that legend says relieved Ganesha when he swallowed a demon to protect the world. Colorful rangolis and beautiful bandhanwars also spruce up the aura of the celebration.

Food offerings during Ganesh Chaturthi

Food is an integral part of any Indian festival, and especially so for Ganesh Chaturthi because modak is said to be his favorite sweet. It is a delicious sweet dumpling made of rice flour stuffed with grated coconut and gur (jaggery). For the love of his sweet delight, Lord Ganesh is also sometimes called Modakpriya.

It, therefore, has become customary to include a variety of sweets in the prasad or prasadam (food offered to the deity) during Ganesh Chaturthi. Laddu (besan and motichoor laddu are a no-brainer), karanji, vrundallu, nevri, chalividi, etc., are some of the sweet offerings made to the lord in an array of delightful flavors by different groups of people.

Top places to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi in India

It is said that if you want to have a truly cultural immersive experience, the best time to visit any place is during a festival. While Lord Ganesha is a much-loved deity of the Hindu pantheon, and in his honor, almost the whole country gets decked up, there are a few special mentions that take this fiesta to a completely different level.

Below are some of the notable places where you can visit to witness the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in its grandest form.

Please note that details regarding Ganesh Chaturthi for the year 2024 have not been revealed yet. We will update the information as and when released  by the officials

Mumbai

The commercial capital of India knows its way of celebrating festivals in India and leaves any resident or non-resident in awe. No other place in the country matches up to the City of Dream’s Ganesh Chaturthi celebration. In 2019, over 38,000 idols were immersed on Visharjan Day across 129 locations in Mumbai. Yes, it is that magnificent!

The celebration takes place either in homes or is organized by different societies, the sarvajanik (public) puja pandals. A healthy competition goes on between organizations that try to win the prize for the best pandal and idol. A few places in the city that boast of a great pandal are:

• Lalbaugcha Raja in Lalbaug, Central Mumbai, is the most venerated pandal in the city. The sheer size of the idol will take you aback.
• Khetwadi Ganraj in Grigaim, South Mumbai, showcases the best-embellished idol. Well, we’re talking of gold and diamond jewelry for the statues here, which have also been accredited as the tallest in Mumbai.
• Ganesh Galli Mumbaicha Raja in Central Mumbai is among the oldest pandals in the city and offers some extraordinarily creative theme-based pandals to look out for.
• Andherica Raja in Andheri pulls the celebrity crowd during the festival. On one hand, the pandal is now over half a century old, while on the other, it is quite famous for granting the devotees’ wishes.

Pune

While no one really knows for sure when the celebrations for Ganesh Chaturthi began, they did take a grand form in the 17th century here in Pune during the founder of the Maratha empire, Shivaji’s rule. During this time, Peshwas considered Lord Ganesha as their patron deity.

As the state of Maharashtra’s cultural capital, the city has retained its own traditional celebration of Vinayaka Chaturthi, with classical performances, drama, and traditional sports becoming the festival’s highlight.

While every corner of the city gets all decked up during the 10 days, the best five cloud-pleasers are Kasba Ganpati, Tambdi Jogeshwari Ganpati, and Tulsi Baug Ganpati, Guruji Talim, and Kesariwada Ganpati. Daghdushet Halwai Ganpati is yet another notable pandal that never fails to awe-inspire visitors with its replication of famous monuments.

Hyderabad

Fun fact: in 2014, to commemorate the completion of 60 years of Khairtabad Ganesh Utsav Mela, the organizing committee decided to build a 60 feet Ganesh idol holding a 5600 kg laddu in the left palm, making it one of the tallest Ganesh idols to be ever made in history. It was, in fact, the tradition of the committee to increase the idol’s height by 1 meter every year for the previous six decades, having started with just a 1-foot tall idol. While the size was reduced post-2014, in 2019, it again went up to 61 feet.

Besides Khairtabad, Hyderabad as a whole witnessed nearly 75,000 pandals, with a few lakh devotees making their way to offer prayers during the ten-day period. Balapur, Kamalanagar, Durgam Cheruvu, Kamalanagar Chaitanyapur, New Nagole, and Gowlipura in Old City are dotted with beautifully decorated pandals and Ganesh idols. Look out for the laddu auction at Balapur Ganesh. All of the immersions take place in Hussain Sagar Lake and are a spectacle not to be missed!

Goa

In Goa, the celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi dates back to the age of the Kadambas (rulers from the 10th to 14th CE). So, while Goa is known for its pristine beaches, Portuguese colonies, and the Susegad lifestyle, It sees a different picture when it comes to celebrating Lord Ganesha’s birth anniversary. In the local dialect of Konkani, the festival is called Chavat.

It is the time of family get-togethers and unanimous celebrations. Pandals are set up, idols are adorned, and aartis are sung to please the Lord. On the third day of the month, women fast and worship Devi Parvati and Lord Shiva. The next day is harvest day (Navyachi Pancham) when they bring freshly cut paddy from the fields and commence puja.

In Mapusa, North Goa, thousands of devotees flock to the Ganapati temples at Khandola and Ganeshpuri. Yet another village that springs to life is Marcela. It is home to many Hindu shrines, and the artisans in the village are extremely talented. You’d find Ganesh idols crafted of bamboo, cane, coconut, and arcenut.