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Ganesh Chaturthi
The birthday of Ganesha, kept for up to ten days, when Maharashtrian women wear the nine-yard nauvari or a Paithani.
What is worn for Ganesh Chaturthi
Ganesh Chaturthi marks the birth of Ganesha and falls on the fourth day of the bright fortnight of Bhadrapada. Clay images are installed at home and in neighbourhood pandals, worshipped for one and a half, three, five, seven or ten days, then carried in procession and immersed in water. It is the biggest festival of Maharashtra, and is kept widely in Goa, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra. Many Maharashtrian women wear the nauvari, the nine-yard saree draped in the kashta style, or a silk Paithani with a peacock or parrot on its pallu. Men wear kurta and a dhoti or pyjama, and often a topi or pheta. Modak, a steamed sweet, is the offering.
The sarees
Written by the EveryPallu desk with AI assistance. Background: "Ganesh Chaturthi" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Paithani: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Kashta sari: Dakutaa at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source