Every custom in a Ganesh Chaturthi puja carries a reason, and most of us were taught the action without ever being told the meaning. Why the coconut is broken, why durva grass outranks every flower, why grown men hold their ears and squat in front of the idol - each has a story behind it.
This page is about those meanings. If what you need is the date, the muhurat and the step by step sthapana vidhi, that lives in our Ganesh Chaturthi 2026 guide. Come back here for the why.
Topikaranam - why devotees hold their ears and squat
Watch a South Indian family in front of a Ganesha idol and you will see it. The devotee crosses their arms, takes the left earlobe in the right hand and the right earlobe in the left, then squats and stands three times.
It is called Topikaranam, or Thoppukaranam. The name comes from the Tamil rendering of the Sanskrit Thwabhyam Karnam, roughly "by both ears" - and the sense of it is "I listen to your command."
The crossed arms matter. Crossing them puts you in a posture you cannot hold with any pride left. Tugging the ears is the oldest gesture of admitting fault there is, which is why the same action follows a child around every classroom in India. Done in front of Ganesha, it is an apology for the wrongs you know about and the ones you do not.
Three repetitions is the usual count. It is traditionally done by men and boys, though nothing stops anyone doing it, and it closes with a full prostration - chest to the floor, legs extended, arms forward.
Why the coconut is broken
The coconut offered at Ganesh Chaturthi is a whole one, husked but with a small tuft of fibre left at the top. That tuft is the point. It stands for the tuft of hair a Brahmin keeps, and the coconut with it becomes an offering of the purest thing available.
Then it is smashed. In Tamil the act is called chidur thengai, and the reading of it is blunt: the hard shell is the ego, and you break it in front of the deity rather than carry it into the puja. What is inside is white and soft and unguarded, and that is what you actually offer.
Break it in one clean strike if you can. A coconut that has to be hit repeatedly is considered a poor sign, so most people use a firm surface and commit to the blow. The water is poured out as an offering and the flesh goes into the prasad.
The coconut carries this weight far beyond Ganesh Chaturthi, and we have written about it at length in the importance of coconut in Hinduism.
Why durva grass outranks the flowers
Durva is a humble three-bladed grass, and Ganesha is said to prefer it to any bloom. The reason is a story.
A demon called Analan was swallowed by Ganesha. Inside, the demon began to burn, and the heat rose until it was unbearable. Nothing cooled it. Ganesha was finally given durva grass, wore it as a garland, and the burning stopped.
The offering is made as a mala. Take twenty one blades, tie them in bundles of three, and lay them at his feet or across the shoulders of the idol. Twenty one is the traditional count and it echoes through the rest of the puja - twenty one modaks, twenty one durva bundles.
Why red hibiscus
The hibiscus, or shoe flower, is the flower most associated with Ganesha, and the red one specifically.
Part of that is colour. Red is the auspicious colour for him, the colour of his dhoti and his sindoor. Part of it is the flower's five petals, read as the five elements settled and in balance.
The practical reason is the one people forget. Hibiscus is the flower actually in bloom in Bhadrapada, the monsoon month when Ganesh Chaturthi falls. The tradition names the flower that would genuinely have been available, which is how most offering lists were built.
Why modak
Parvati made modaks for her son, and he has been fond of them ever since. That is the whole story, and it is enough.
The modak is a sweet dumpling of rice flour filled with coconut and jaggery, steamed until translucent. In the south the same thing is a kozhukattai. Motichoor laddoo is the accepted substitute where steaming is impractical, and in a UAE kitchen it very often is.
Twenty one is the traditional count again. Eleven or five are accepted. Homemade counts for more than bought, but bought and offered with attention counts for a great deal more than nothing.
For the offerings
The samagri these customs actually call for.
The rules for offering flowers
There is a small code around flowers that most families still keep, even when nobody remembers being taught it.
- Pluck flowers only after your bath, not before.
- Do not pick up flowers that have fallen to the ground. Parijat is the single exception, and it is offered only after it falls.
- Never offer nirmalya - flowers that have already been offered to a deity, by you or by anyone else.
- Do not throw or fling flowers at the idol. Offer them at his feet with both palms open.
- Avoid flowers with insects, damage or a broken stem.
What Angaaraka Chaturthi is
The fourth tithi of each lunar fortnight is a Chaturthi, and there are twenty four or twenty five of them in a year. All of them belong to Ganesha.
When a Sankashti Chaturthi falls on a Tuesday it is called Angaaraka Chaturthi. Angaaraka is Mangal, the planet Mars, whose day is Tuesday, and who is said to have performed a Ganesha puja himself and been granted this boon. It is treated as the most powerful Chaturthi of the year for clearing obstacles and for anyone carrying a difficult Mangal placement.
The monthly Shukla Paksha Chaturthis are a separate observance with their own midday vidhi, and all twelve 2026 dates with UAE muhurat are in our Vinayaka Chaturthi guide.
Ganesha Stuti
Five verses, chanted at the start of the puja and before any new undertaking. The first two are the ones worth committing to memory.
वक्रतुण्ड महाकाय सूर्यकोटि समप्रभ ।
निर्विघ्नं कुरु मे देव सर्वकार्येषु सर्वदा ॥
Vakratunda mahakaya suryakoti samaprabha
Nirvighnam kuru me deva sarvakaryeshu sarvada
Curved trunk, great body, radiance of ten million suns - make my every undertaking free of obstacles, always.
The opening verse of the Stuti runs Agajanana padmarkam gajananam aharnisham, anekadantam bhaktanam ekadantam upasmahe - "the lotus face that gladdens Parvati, worshipped day and night; for devotees of many desires, we adore the one-tusked lord."
The remaining verses praise him as the son of Uma, attended by the ganas, eater of the wood-apple and rose-apple, and destroyer of sorrow. The fuller set with meanings and pronunciation is in our five Lord Ganesha mantras guide.
Keeping these customs in a UAE home
Most of this transfers to an apartment without any adjustment. Two things do not.
Fresh durva and hibiscus are the hard part. Neither grows on a Dubai balcony in September, and neither turns up in a supermarket. The Indian grocery clusters in Bur Dubai, Karama and Al Nahda carry both in festival week, and they sell out. Order or reserve a few days ahead rather than the night before.
The heat is against you. Flowers bought in the afternoon and left in a car will not survive to the evening aarti. Buy in the morning, keep them wrapped in damp newspaper in the fridge, and take them out only when the puja begins.
Frequently asked questions
What does Topikaranam actually mean?
It comes from the Sanskrit Thwabhyam Karnam, "by both ears", and carries the sense of "I listen to your command". Crossing the arms and holding opposite earlobes while squatting three times is an admission of fault and a request for forgiveness.
Why is durva grass offered instead of flowers?
Because of the Analan story - Ganesha swallowed a demon who burned him from the inside, and durva was the only thing that cooled the heat. It is offered as a mala of twenty one blades tied in bundles of three.
Can I offer flowers that fell from the plant on their own?
Generally no. Flowers picked up from the ground are not offered, with Parijat the single exception, since Parijat is only ever collected after it has fallen.
Can I reuse the flowers I was given as prasad at a temple?
No. Those are nirmalya, already offered, and they are not offered a second time. Dry them or return them to soil instead.
How many modaks should be offered?
Twenty one traditionally, matching the twenty one durva bundles. Eleven or five are widely accepted, and laddoo is a fine substitute where steaming modaks is not practical.
What is the difference between Angaaraka Chaturthi and Ganesh Chaturthi?
Ganesh Chaturthi is the annual ten-day festival in Bhadrapada. Angaaraka Chaturthi is any Sankashti Chaturthi that happens to fall on a Tuesday, which makes it the most powerful obstacle-clearing Chaturthi of the year.
Do women perform Topikaranam?
It is traditionally done by men and boys, particularly in South India, but there is no prohibition. Plenty of families do it together.
Does it matter if I cannot break a coconut properly in an apartment?
No. The custom is about surrendering ego, not about force. Breaking it outdoors over a bucket, or opening a pre-scored coconut with a firm tap, carries the same intention.
The point of knowing why
None of these customs were invented to be decorative. The coconut is an argument about ego, the ears are an apology, the grass is a story about cooling what burns you from the inside.
Do them knowing that and the ten days change character. Ganpati Bappa Morya.
Plan the whole year: see the Hindu festival dates and muhurats in the UAE for every festival, vrat, tithi and puja muhurat, with same-day pooja samagri delivery across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ajman.
Leave a comment