Gandhi Nagar's Gole Market turns into a 12-day open-air ritual ground this week. The 18th Shri Ganesh Mahotsav Yagya 2026 begins on September 14 — the day Ganesh Chaturthi falls this year — and runs through September 25, closing on Anant Chaturdashi with the immersion of the idol in the Chenab at Akhnoor.
It is organised by The Youth of Jammu, a local youth collective that has previously run the Hanumat Katha in the same neighbourhood from 2023 to 2025, under the spiritual guidance of Shri Shri 1008 Shri Mahant Swami Sanjaydass Ganpatya Maharaj.
The 12-day programme
The Mahotsav opens on September 14 with Ganesh Murti Sthapana (installation of the idol), a Shri Ganesh Puran Katha and a Shri Ganesh Yagya, alongside the Siddhi Vinayak Jayanti/Kalank Chaturthi observance. September 15 brings another Ganesh Yagya along with Ganesh Leela and an evening Bhajan Sandhya, and September 16 is set aside for a Shri Ganesh Sahasranam and Atharvashirsha Yagya.
The days that follow carry a run of Vedic observances tied to the Ganeshotsav fortnight: a Surya Narayan and Santan Prapti Yagya, a Mahalakshmi Prapti Yagya, a Nav Durga Yagya, a further Ganesh Sahasranam Yagya, and a Vishnu Sahasranam and Padma Ekadashi Yagya — interspersed with Durvashtami, Yakshashtami, Dadhichi Jayanti and Vaman Jayanti.
Dates: September 14–25, 2026
Venue: Gole Market, Gandhi Nagar, Jammu
Organiser: The Youth of Jammu
Contact: 7051112203 / 9419112203 / 9103140611
Purnahuti and the closing Shobha Yatra
The Purnahuti — the concluding oblation — of the Shri Ganesh Yagya is scheduled for 12:30 PM on September 24. The Mahotsav closes the next day with Ganesh Visarjan and the Anant Chaturdashi Vrat: a Shobha Yatra sets off from Gole Market at 10:30 AM on September 25, moves through several of the city's markets, and ends at the Chenab River in Akhnoor, where the idol is immersed. Ganesh Visarjan processions to the Chenab at Akhnoor are an established closing ritual for Jammu's Ganeshotsav celebrations each year, drawing residents from across the city to the riverbank.
Anyone planning to be in Gandhi Nagar or along the Akhnoor road on the afternoon of September 25 should expect the procession to add to traffic through the main market stretches; the organisers have not announced a specific route beyond Gole Market to Akhnoor.
Why it's on JammuBeat
Entry price, exact daily timings beyond the two milestones above, and a detailed procession route have not been announced by the organisers. For young residents of Gandhi Nagar and the surrounding areas, the Mahotsav is one of the larger recurring community gatherings on the city's calendar — twelve days of a shared public space, evening bhajans, and a festival closing that plays out in public, on the street and at the riverbank, rather than behind a temple gate. The organisers have invited devotees to attend with their families through the full 12 days.
