Vinayaka Chaturthi
Lord Ganesha
Dates in 2026
A monthly observance — here are its dates through this year.
Calculated for India (IST) using precise Panchang astronomy. Dates can shift by a day at locations far to the east or west.
Significance & story
Vinayaka Chaturthi is the monthly day given to Lord Ganesha (Ganapati), kept on the fourth lunar day (Chaturthi) of the bright, waxing fortnight (Shukla paksha). Ganesha is worshipped first in almost every Hindu rite — before a wedding, a new business, a journey or an exam — because he is held to be the remover of obstacles (Vighnaharta), the one who clears the path. This observance brings that everyday role into a fixed monthly rhythm: a regular day to honour him before the work of the coming month.
Because it follows the lunar month rather than the solar year, Vinayaka Chaturthi comes around once in each Hindu month, so there are roughly twelve through the year. That regularity is the point — it is a steady, recurring vrat rather than a single grand festival. The most prominent of these monthly Chaturthis is the one in the month of Bhadrapada, which is celebrated on a far larger scale as the annual Ganesh Chaturthi; the others are quieter, household observances.
It also sits opposite a second monthly Ganesha day. Vinayaka Chaturthi falls in the bright fortnight and is timed to the midday puja, while Sankashti Chaturthi falls in the dark, waning fortnight and is kept with a fast broken at moonrise. Many devotees of Ganesha keep both — the bright-fortnight day to begin well, the dark-fortnight day to seek relief from difficulty.
Rituals & observance
How Vinayaka Chaturthi is kept:
- Many keep a fast (vrat) through the day, often a light one, taken after the midday puja; the strictness varies by family custom.
- The main worship is done at the midday window (madhyahna), the time tradition associates with Ganesha, with the sixteen-step offering (shodashopachara puja) to an idol or image of Ganesha.
- A steamed sweet dumpling held to be his favourite (modak) is offered, along with durva — the tender three-bladed grass given to Ganesha — and red flowers.
- Ganesha mantras and the Sankatnashana Ganesha stotra are recited, and his names are chanted through the puja.
- By custom the moon is not viewed on Chaturthi night — a folk belief holds that looking at it then invites false blame, so many deliberately avoid glancing at it.
Regional variations
How this date is determined
Observed on the Chaturthi tithi, reckoned by midday (madhyahna).
Dates are computed to astronomical precision (NASA/JPL ephemeris), in line with traditional panchang.
