Ganesh Chaturthi is being celebrated today, with devotees offering prayers to Vinayagar in homes and temples. The report notes that chanting Avvaiyar’s Vinayagar Agaval and Kachiyappa Munivar’s Kariyasiddhi Malai is believed to bring “Vinayagar’s grace,” as cited by the Kanchi Maha Periyava.
It also recalls the role of freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak in popularising Ganesh Chaturthi as a public, national-style celebration, encouraging widespread worship of Ganesh across India.
Temple traditions place Vinayagar in many locations—near entrances, rajagopurams, flagstaffs and close to the dwarapalakas. Based on where the deity is installed, devotees refer to forms such as Theradi Vinayagar (near the temple chariot), Padithurai Vinayagar (near a temple tank) and other corner-based names.
The report highlights several distinctive shrines and forms: a female-form “Ganesayani” at Suchindram Thanumalayan Temple in Kanyakumari; Kannimoola Ganapathi with a snake in hand at Sankarankovil; Karpaga Vinayagar holding sugarcane at Thiruparankundram; a 32-foot Vinayagar carved from a single stone at the 108 Vinayagar Temple near Gopalasamudram in Dindigul; and special decorations at Eachanari Vinayagar in Coimbatore for 27 stars. It also mentions the self-manifested ant-hill clay Vinayagar in Puducherry known as “Akka Swamigal Pillaiyar,” the Adianta Prabhu form at Madhya Kailash in Adyar, Chennai, and the tradition of worshipping Dundi Vinayagar in Kashi.
On worship practices, the report says Ganapathi homam is believed to remove obstacles and support business growth, while offerings such as modakam and arugampul (Bermuda grass) are considered significant. It adds that devotees may begin reading the Vinayagar Puranam early in the morning and continue daily, and lists items commonly used for worship and naivedyam on Chaturthi, including arugampul, flowers and a variety of fruits and sweets.
