Angarki Chaturthi at Siddhivinayak — Dates & Queue Plan

When does Angarki Chaturthi fall, and how is it different from Sankashti?

Sankashti Chaturthi comes once every lunar month — a fast kept for Ganesha and broken after moonrise. When that day lands on a Tuesday it is called Angarki, and it is considered the most auspicious of them all. That is the whole distinction: same observance, heavier day.

The other two Angarki dates in 2026 have already passed: 6 January and 5 May. The fast is broken after moonrise, and moonrise shifts by date and city — check a Mumbai panchang for the evening timing rather than assuming a fixed hour.

Why is Siddhivinayak so crowded on Angarki?

Two things stack. Tuesday is already the temple's peak day, when the queue routinely runs two to five hours; the trust opens the doors at 3:15 AM on Tuesdays rather than the usual 5:30 AM precisely because of it, and on Tuesdays the checkpost and main door close to devotees around 11:30 PM. Add the Sankashti fast on top and devotees begin queuing the previous night. On Angarki you should plan for a wait of five hours or more, and on some Angarkis considerably more than that.

Nobody can shorten that queue for you — not us, not an agent, not a website selling a "priority pass". Entry is free, the trust's official pooja and darshan bookings are made only on siddhivinayak.org under Temple eSevas, and anything else is a third party. What you can control is the hour you arrive.

How do you actually plan an Angarki darshan?

• Treat it as a pre-dawn errand. The doors open at 3:15 AM; arriving at 6 AM on an Angarki is arriving late.
• Decide in advance whether you are keeping the fast — if you are, the day ends at moonrise, not at darshan, and you will want to be home or settled by evening.
• Avoid bringing elderly family into the main Angarki queue. A quiet weekday morning a few days either side gives them the same darshan without the crush.
• If the queue is the point for you — and for many devotees it genuinely is — go with that expectation rather than hoping to beat it.
• Carry as little as possible; mobile photography is not allowed inside the sanctum, and the less you carry the faster the checkpost goes.

Our Gold circuit (₹3,000/person, groups of 4+) can start as early as you need it to on an Angarki morning, with a private AC vehicle waiting between shrines and the rest of the day — Mahalaxmi, Babulnath, Mumbadevi, ISKCON Juhu — planned around what the crowd is doing. We will tell you honestly what the wait is likely to be on your date before you book. If you want a comfortable darshan rather than a long one, we will suggest a different date, and say so plainly.