Akhurātha Sankashti is the Mārgaśīrṣa Kṛṣṇa Caturthī form of the monthly Gaṇeśa vrata. The name means 'one whose chariot is the mouse', from ākhu, mouse, and ratha, chariot. The mouse is read as a picture of desire, small and quiet and able to gnaw through anything within reach, so Gaṇeśa seated on it stands for mastery over that restless appetite. Devotees fast through the day and break the fast only after offering arghya to the risen moon, praying that their troubles be lifted. How the day is fixed: The vrata is kept on the day when the Kṛṣṇa-pakṣa Caturthī of amānta Mārgaśīrṣa prevails at local moonrise. Pūrṇimānta calendars name the same month Pauṣa. Keep in mind: Moonrise on a Kṛṣṇa Caturthī comes some hours after sunset, so on a winter night the fast runs well into the cold evening. Because the test is made at local moonrise, the day can differ by one between places. This year: The 2026 date shown here is worked out from sunrise at the place you chose, so in another city the same day can fall a day earlier or later. Fast and evening pūjā: Households keep a fast or phalāhāra through the day and worship Gaṇeśa in the evening with durvā, red flowers and modaka. Arghya to the moon: When the moon rises, water is offered to it as arghya, and only then is food taken. While waiting, elders often tell children the story of Gaṇeśa's mouse. Worth remembering: Some regional pañcāṅgas call this same Mārgaśīrṣa Sankashti Mahodara, 'great-bellied', and the tithi and observance are identical. The Mahodara name that other lists give to the Phālguna Sankashti, known as Dwijapriya, belongs to a different month and is not this day. Each region tells the mouse's story its own way. In Tamil Nadu the demon Gajamukhāsura, defeated by the tusk Gaṇeśa broke off and hurled, surrenders as the mouse, while the Gaṇeśa Purāṇa tale told in Mahārāṣṭra and Gujarat makes it the gandharva Krauñca, cursed by the sage Vāmadeva and bound with Gaṇeśa's noose. The offerings and the length of the fast follow family custom, and the surest guide is the way the elders of one's own house keep the vrata.
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