Anant Chaturdashi
The fourteenth tithi of bright Bhadrapada — the Anant vrat for Vishnu, and the day the Ganapati immersions end.
Where it is kept Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh; the Anant vrat itself across the Vaishnava tradition.
When it falls
Computed from the Moon's elongation from the Sun. The civil day is the one carrying the tithi running at sunrise.
Overview
Two things happen on this tithi. The first is the Anant Chaturdashi vrat: Vishnu is worshipped as Ananta, the endless, and a fourteen-knotted thread — the ananta sutra — is tied on the arm, right for men and left for women, and kept for the year. The vow runs fourteen years in its full form.
The second is Ganesh Visarjan. The ten-day Ganapati installations end today, and the immersion processions of Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad are the largest street gatherings in the Indian calendar.
Where it comes from
The Anant vrat's story is in the Mahabharata's Vana Parva: Krishna gives it to Yudhishthira in the forest as the observance that will restore what the Pandavas have lost. The fourteen knots stand for the fourteen worlds, and the fourteen years for the exile.
The pairing with the Ganesh immersion is a Maharashtrian development and follows from the ten-day span of the public festival Tilak established in 1893 — the tenth day from Chaturthi lands here.
Why it matters
The ananta sutra is one of the few objects in the calendar meant to be worn for a full year and replaced on the same tithi. It marks a vow with a duration rather than a single day's observance.
For Maharashtra the immersion is the emotional close of the year's biggest festival, and the phrase called out at the parting — Ganpati Bappa Morya, pudhchya varshi lavkar ya — asks the deity to return early next year.
How to celebrate
- Tie the fourteen-knotted thread after the pujaRight arm for men, left for women; kept until the next Anant Chaturdashi.
- Complete the immersion within the day if you installed on ChaturthiThe ten-day span ends here.
- Keep the fast until the Vishnu puja is doneThe vrat is a day fast broken after the worship.
What to avoid
These are not all the same kind of thing. Some are prohibitions from a named text, some are Indian law, some are practical, and some are a confusion worth not repeating. Each item says which it is.
- Do not discard last year's thread carelesslyIt is removed and given to water along with the new puja, not thrown away.
- Do not immerse plaster images or accessoriesThe same rule as at installation; the lakes carry the whole city's images on this one day.
- Do not take the vrat if you cannot keep the yearThe thread is a standing vow for twelve months.
Where this comes from
Everything above is either computed by this site’s own panchang engine, or drawn from the works listed here. Where a custom is modern, commercial or contested, the page says so rather than presenting it as ancient.
- Mahabharata, Vana Parva, for the Anant vrat given by Krishna to Yudhishthira.
- Bhavishya Purana, for the vrat procedure and the fourteen knots.
- The visarjan pairing follows from the ten-day public Ganeshotsav established at Pune in 1893.
Dates are computed for the place named above and will differ elsewhere. Regional traditions vary; where two reckonings are in use, both are named rather than one being chosen silently.
Other festivals
All festivals, with dates for any year · The calendar on the home page