Ganesh Chaturthi Puja Samagri List 2026: The Complete Checklist

Ganesh Chaturthi 2026 falls on Monday, 14 September, with visarjan on Anant Chaturdashi, Friday, 25 September. That gives most households a single weekend to gather everything — and the shopping is not one trip. Some of this keeps for weeks, some has to be fresh on the morning, and a few items are only sold in specialist shops.

This is the full list, grouped the way the puja actually runs rather than alphabetically, with a note on when to buy each group.

Buy ahead: sthapana and setup

These can be bought weeks in advance and are the items most likely to be sold out close to the festival.

• Ganesh murti — clay or eco-friendly if you intend to immerse at home
• Chowki or wooden platform for the murti
• Red or yellow cloth to cover the chowki
• Kalash — copper or brass
• Toran for the doorway
• Rangoli colours
• Puja thali, ghanti (bell) and shankh

Idols in particular go early. If you want a specific size, buy it two to three weeks out.

Buy ahead: dry samagri

All of this keeps. It is the bulk of the list and the part a kit covers.

Tilak and powders

• Kumkum and sindoor
• Haldi (turmeric)
• Chandan powder
• Ashtagandha
• Akshat — unbroken rice

Threads and sacred items

• Moli / kalawa
• Janeu — sacred thread
• Gangajal
• Attar or itra

Deep, dhoop and aarti

• Ghee or lamp oil
• Cotton wicks — round wicks for flat diyas, long wicks for deeper ones
• Camphor for the closing aarti
• Agarbatti and dhoop
• Matchbox

Naivedya that keeps

• Supari and dry paan leaves
• Cloves and cardamom
• Jaggery and mishri (khadisakhar)
• Panchkhadya — cashew, almond, dry dates, pistachio, raisins

Fresh on the day: flowers and leaves

This is the group that trips people up, because it cannot be bought early and the most important item is not a flower at all.

• Durva grass — 21 blades, tied in bunches of three. The single most important offering, and the one most kits omit.
• Red hibiscus (jaswand) — the flower most associated with Ganesha
• Marigold garland
• Red flowers generally, and lotus where available
• Mango leaves for the kalash
• Bel patra and shami patra, in traditions that use them

Order durva from your flower seller in advance. It is grass, not a flower, and many sellers simply do not stock it unless asked.

Fresh on the day: bhog and abhishek

• Modak — 21 is the traditional count
• Ladoo, pedha or barfi
• Panchamrit — milk, curd, honey, ghee, sugar
• Fresh fruit — banana, coconut, sugarcane, seasonal fruit
• Coconuts for the kalash and for offering

The one thing never to offer Ganesha

Tulsi. It is one of the few firm prohibitions in Hindu ritual practice, and it comes from the Puranic account in which Tulsi and Ganesha exchanged curses — after which he declared her leaves would never be acceptable in his worship.

This catches people out constantly, because tulsi is offered to almost every other deity and is essential in Vishnu and Krishna puja. Some printed samagri lists still include tulsi patra out of habit. Offer durva and red hibiscus instead. The full story is here.

Why durva matters more than anything else on the list

Of every offering in the vidhi, durva is the one specifically tied to Ganesha. Tradition offers it in 21 blades, bound in bunches of three, and there is no accepted substitute.

It is also the item almost every general-purpose puja kit leaves out, because it is grass and does not look like samagri. If you buy one thing off this list from a specialist rather than the nearest shop, make it the durva.

How much do you actually need?

Ganesh Chaturthi is not one evening. Bappa is installed on Chaturthi and worshipped morning and evening until visarjan — up to ten days. Households routinely buy for day one and run out by day four.

Scale by how long you are observing:

• Dedh Din (1.5 days) — a single evening’s samagri plus one morning
• 5 or 7 days — roughly half a full festival’s consumables
• Full 10 days to Anant Chaturdashi — twenty aartis, ten abhisheks, ten days of durva and bhog

Camphor, wicks, agarbatti and panchamrit are the four that run out first.

Short on time? The Advik Rituals Ganesh Chaturthi Puja Kit carries the samagri side of this list in one box — 21 durva, red hibiscus and marigold garland, panchamrit for daily abhishek, modak bhog samagri, kalash with coconut and mango leaves, and a vidhi booklet. Hand-packed in Kashi (Varanasi).

A note on the idol

Plaster of Paris does not dissolve. A POP idol immersed in a lake sits on the bed for months and the chemical paints leach into the water, which is why several states now restrict them and many housing societies have stopped allowing them entirely.

A natural clay idol dissolves in a bucket at home within a few hours, and the clay water goes into a garden or a plant pot. Our eco-friendly clay Ganesh idols are made for exactly that.

Quick checklist

Print this, or work down it in the shop:

1. Ganesh murti, chowki, cloth, toran, rangoli
2. Kalash, puja thali, ghanti, shankh
3. Kumkum, sindoor, haldi, chandan, ashtagandha, akshat
4. Moli, janeu, gangajal, attar
5. Ghee or oil, cotton wicks, camphor, agarbatti, dhoop, matchbox
6. Supari, paan, laung, elaichi, jaggery, mishri, panchkhadya
7. Durva — 21 blades, red hibiscus, marigold garland, mango leaves
8. Modak, sweets, panchamrit ingredients, fruit, coconuts
9. Vidhi and aarti booklet

Next

• Ganpati Sthapana Vidhi at Home: step-by-step guide
• Ganesh Chaturthi 2026: date, muhurat and the 10-day calendar
• Why tulsi is never offered to Lord Ganesha

Muhurat timings and regional practice vary. Where your family tradition or your pandit differs from anything here, follow them.