Sankashti Chaturthi Vrat Katha

Traditionally on Sankashti Chaturthi a fast is kept all day. In the evening Ganesh ji is worshipped with durva grass, laddoos or modaks, and sesame. At night, when the moon rises, arghya is offered to the moon and the fast is broken. Sankashti means 'the one who frees from trouble'.

Once Shiv and Parvati sat down to play chaupar on the bank of the Narmada. There was no one to judge who won, so Shiv made a boy from grass and straw, gave him life, and said, 'You tell us who wins.' They played three times, and Parvati won all three. But the boy said, 'Mahadev won.'

Parvati was angered by his false judgement and cursed him to be lame and live in the mud. The boy wept and asked forgiveness: 'I made a mistake without meaning to.' The Mother's heart softened. She said, 'The curse cannot be taken back, but in a year Naga maidens will come here to worship Ganesh. Learn the method from them and keep the vrat, and your suffering will end.'

A year later the Naga maidens came. The boy learned the Ganesh vrat from them and kept it with devotion for twenty-one days. Ganesh ji was pleased and appeared. The boy said, 'Give me the strength to walk on my own feet to Kailash.' Ganesh ji granted it, and the boy reached Kailash and bowed at Shiv's feet.

The katha goes on to say that at that time Parvati had gone away, upset with Shiv. Hearing about the vrat from the boy, Shiv kept it too, and Parvati returned. Then Parvati kept it, wishing to see her son Kartikeya, and Kartikeya came to meet his mother. So this vrat came to be known as the remover of troubles.