Anant Chaturdashi 2026 – Vishnu's Vrat & Ganpati Visarjan

Vishnu as the Infinite

Anant means endless or without limit, one of Vishnu’s names for his boundless, eternal nature. On this day he is worshipped in that form, often shown reclining on the coils of the serpent Shesha on the cosmic ocean. The vrat is a way of asking that protection to be as unbroken as the god it honours.

The Anant Vrat Katha

The story tied to the day comes from the Mahabharata. When the Pandavas lost everything and were living in the forest, Krishna is said to have advised Yudhishthira to keep the Anant vrat to recover their fortune and dignity. The katha of a devotee named Sushila and her husband Kaundinya, who lost and then regained prosperity through the vrat, is read aloud during the puja.

Ganpati Visarjan

In Maharashtra, Goa and beyond, Anant Chaturdashi is the tenth day of Ganeshotsav, when the idol worshipped at home or in the public pandal is taken for immersion. The chant “Ganpati Bappa Morya, pudhchya varshi lavkar ya” – come again soon next year – carries the crowds to the water and marks the god’s send-off.

The Jain observance

For Jains the day has a separate meaning as the final day of Paryushana, their most important period of fasting, reflection and forgiveness. It is followed by Kshamavani, the day of seeking and granting pardon, when Jains say Micchami Dukkadam to release any hurt caused during the year.

Vishnu (Anant)

Worshipped in his infinite form, the preserver whose protection has no end. The Anant sutra, a thread of fourteen knots often dyed in turmeric, is placed before him, worshipped, and then tied on the wrist – the right arm for men, the left for women in most traditions.

Shesha Naga

The thousand-headed serpent on whose coils Vishnu rests. The fourteen knots of the Anant thread are linked in some tellings to the fourteen worlds or the fourteen years of the vrat, and Shesha’s endless coils echo the idea of Anant, the unending.

Ganesha

On the same date, the Ganesha idol installed on Ganesh Chaturthi is given its farewell. The remover of obstacles is thanked, offered a last aarti with modaks, and carried in procession for immersion, to return the following year.

Modak

Ganesha’s best-loved offering – steamed rice-flour dumplings (ukadiche modak) filled with jaggery and coconut, or the fried variety. A last plate is offered before the idol leaves for immersion.

Puran poli

A soft flatbread stuffed with sweet chana-dal and jaggery filling, cooked in ghee. It is a festival staple across the ten days and often part of the final naivedya.

Satvik vrat food

Those keeping the fast eat fruit, milk and light meals without onion, garlic or grains, breaking the vrat only after the puja and the tying of the thread.

Kheer and prasad

Rice or vermicelli kheer, coconut, and seasonal fruit are commonly offered and shared as prasad among family and neighbours.

Maharashtra & Goa

The day is overwhelmingly Ganpati Visarjan. City-wide processions, especially in Mumbai and Pune, carry thousands of idols to the sea and rivers over many hours, with lezim, dhol-tasha and colour on every street.

North & Central India

In much of the north the Vishnu-centred Anant Chaturdashi vrat is more prominent, with the tying of the Anant thread and the reading of the vrat katha at home.

Telangana & Andhra

The Ganesh immersion is a major public event here too – Hyderabad’s Khairatabad Ganesh and the Hussain Sagar immersions draw huge crowds on the same day.

Jain communities

For Jains across regions the day closes Paryushana. The mood is one of fasting, reflection and forgiveness rather than procession, leading into Kshamavani the next day.