Vinayaka Chavithi is the fourth day of the bright half of Bhadrapada, the birthday of Ganesha, remover of obstacles. A clay image is brought home, set beneath a canopy hung with fruit and maize, and worshipped with twenty-one kinds of leaves. Schoolchildren lay their books before him. In Hyderabad the festival runs for eleven days and ends in one of the largest immersion processions in India.
The story
Parvati shaped a boy from the turmeric paste of her bath and set him to guard her door. Shiva, returning, was refused entry by a child he did not know, and struck off his head. To console Parvati he sent his ganas for the head of the first creature they found sleeping with its head to the north; it was an elephant. The boy was restored and made lord of the ganas: Ganapati.
A second story explains the day's one prohibition. Ganesha, full of kudumulu, was riding home when the Moon laughed at him. The Moon was cursed: whoever looked at it on this day would be falsely accused. Even Krishna, who saw its reflection in a bowl of milk, was accused of stealing the Syamantaka jewel. Hearing that story and taking akshatalu on the head undoes the curse, and so it is read aloud at every puja.
వక్రతుండ మహాకాయ సూర్యకోటి సమప్రభ । నిర్విఘ్నం కురు మే దేవ సర్వకార్యేషు సర్వదా
Curved of trunk, vast of body, bright as ten million suns: lord, make all that I undertake free of obstacles, always
Said before beginning anything
How it is kept
- The clay imageMade of plain clay, more and more often by the family itself, and immersed in water at the end of the festival.
- PalavelliA wooden lattice is hung above the image and tied with fruit, maize cobs and flowers.
- Ekavimsati patriTwenty-one kinds of leaves are offered, among them garika (durva grass), maredu, tulasi, mango, jilledu and ummetta.
- Undrallu and kudumuluSteamed rice-flour dumplings, plain and sweet, are his favourite food.
- BooksChildren set their school books before Ganesha and take them back after the puja.
- NimajjanamThe image is immersed on the third, fifth, ninth or eleventh day.
Why this date
Vinayaka Chavithi is the fourth tithi (Chavithi) of the bright half of Bhadrapada. Ganesha is worshipped at midday, so the calendar gives the day on which Chavithi is in force at noon.
Vinayaka Chavithi in other years
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Monday | |
| 2027 | Saturday | |
| 2028 | Wednesday | |
| 2029 | Tuesday | |
| 2030 | Sunday | |
| 2031 | Saturday |
More Telugu festivals
24 AugustSri Krishnashtamiశ్రీకృష్ణాష్టమి
29 SeptemberBathukammaబతుకమ్మ
17 AugustRakhi Pournamiరాఖీ పౌర్ణమి
7 OctoberSaddula Bathukammaసద్దుల బతుకమ్మ
13 AugustVaralakshmi Vratamవరలక్ష్మీ వ్రతం
7 OctoberDurgashtamiదుర్గాష్టమి
Where to see Vinayaka Chavithi
In the Telugu states
- Khairatabad Ganesh, HyderabadTelanganaA new giant image every year since 1954, sixty feet and more, in a different form each time.
- Varasiddhi Vinayaka Temple, KanipakamAndhra PradeshA self-manifested Ganesha standing in a well; the temple's three-week Brahmotsavam begins on Chavithi.
- Hussain Sagar, HyderabadTelanganaOn the eleventh day tens of thousands of images are brought through the city to the lake.
Across India
- Lalbaugcha Raja, MumbaiMaharashtraThe most visited of Mumbai's public Ganeshas, with queues that last a day.
- Dagadusheth Ganapati, PuneMaharashtraIn the city where Tilak turned a household puja into a public festival in the 1890s.
- Karpaka Vinayakar Temple, PillaiyarpattiTamil NaduA rock-cut Ganesha some 1,600 years old; the ten-day festival ends on Chaturthi.
- GanpatipuleMaharashtraA Ganesha temple on a Konkan beach, at the foot of a hill pilgrims walk round.