Vishnu as Ananta
Anant Chaturdashi
The endless one's day: a fourteen-knot thread, and Ganapati's farewell.
Tithi: Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturdashi
In the simplest words
Ananta's day, Vishnu as the endless one. A fourteen-knot thread goes on the wrist, and in cities it is also Ganesh ji's grand farewell.
The story & purpose
Ananta is Vishnu as the endless, the serpent of eternity on whom he rests between worlds. On this Chaturdashi the anant-sutra, a silk thread of fourteen knots for fourteen lokas, is worshipped and tied on the arm: a portable vow that the Endless holds one's years together. The Pandavas, the katha tells, kept this vrat to recover their lost fortune.
The rest of the story
The same evening is Ganapati's great farewell: the ten-day sthapana ends, and processions carry Bappa to the water with 'Ganpati Bappa Morya, pudhchya varshi laukar ya': come again soon next year. Endings, both threads of the day insist, are only knots on an endless string.
What is done
Anant-sutra
The fourteen-knot thread worshipped with Vishnu puja, tied on the right arm (left for women, by custom).
Katha & vrat
The Anant katha of Kaundinya heard with a day's fast.
Ganesh visarjan
Final aarti, a modak for the road, and immersion; an eco-clay Ganapati dissolves back into the water.
Best timings
Anant puja in the forenoon; visarjan processions from afternoon into night.
Exact muhurat varies by city and tradition; for the precise hour, consult a local panchang for your location.
Worth knowing
Mumbai's visarjan at Girgaum Chowpatty is among the largest annual gatherings on earth.
Many families keep the Anant vrat for fourteen years running, then close it with an udyapan.
In 2026 Anant Chaturdashi and Purnima Shraddha sit back-to-back: festival to ancestors overnight.
Mantras of this festival
ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय
Dvadashakshara — the twelve-syllable mantra
Begin jaap →शान्ताकारं भुजगशयनं पद्मनाभं सुरेशं विश्वाधारं गगनसदृशं मेघवर्णं शुभाङ्गम् । लक्ष्मीकान्तं कमलनयनं योगिभिर्ध्यानगम्यं वन्दे विष्णुं भवभयहरं सर्वलोकैकनाथम् ॥
Shantakaram — Vishnu dhyana
Begin jaap →ॐ गं गणपतये नमः
Ganesha mantra
Begin jaap →