21 Type Leaves for Ganesh Pooja

Every year on Ganesh Chaturthi, families across India and the United States set out a small pile of leaves beside the idol — not flowers, not sweets, but leaves. Twenty-one of them, each a different plant, each offered one at a time while a different name of Ganesha is spoken aloud.

This is Ekavimshati Patra Puja — the offering of twenty-one leaves. It is one of the oldest and least understood parts of Ganesh Puja, and if you have ever stood in front of a puja thali wondering which leaf is which, this guide is for you.

What is Patri, and why 21 leaves?

Patra (Sanskrit) or patri means leaf. In Ganesh Puja, twenty-one specific leaves are offered to Lord Ganesha, one after another. The number 21 recurs throughout Ganapati worship — 21 modaks, 21 durva blades, 21 names — and is traditionally read as completeness: the five elements, the ten senses, the five vital breaths and the mind, brought together and set down at the feet of the deity who removes obstacles.

The key thing most guides leave out: the leaves are not offered to twenty-one different gods. Each leaf is offered to Ganesha himself, under a different one of his twenty-one names. The first leaf goes to Sumukha, the beautiful-faced; the last to Kapila, the tawny one. The ritual is a slow recitation of who Ganesha is, with a leaf placed down at each name.

The 21 leaves of Ganesh Patri Puja — full list

Below is the traditional order, with the botanical name and the common English or Hindi name for each, so you can identify them wherever you live.

Our 21 Types of Leaves for Ganesh Patri Pooja pack follows this same order and ships with an Eka Vimshati Patri Puja pamphlet carrying the mantra for each leaf in Sanskrit, Hindi, English and Tamil — so you can follow along even if you do not read Devanagari.

How to perform Patri Puja at home

Patri Puja sits inside the larger Ganesh Puja, after the idol is installed and bathed, and before the naivedya (food offering).

1. Sort the leaves first. Lay all twenty-one out on the thali in order before you begin, so you are not hunting mid-mantra. Keep the durva in pairs.
2. Sprinkle them clean. A light rinse with water is enough. Leaves should be whole, not torn.
3. Offer one leaf per name. Say the name (“Om Sumukhaya Namah”), then “Machipatram Samarpayami” — I offer the Machi leaf — and place it at the idol’s feet. Work down the list.
4. Durva gets extra. Many families offer 21 pairs of durva on top of the single pair in the list. Durva is the offering Ganesha is said to love most.
5. Finish with modak and aarti. The leaves stay in place through the visarjan.

If you are setting up a home mandap for the first time, a Ganesh Chaturthi Pooja Kit or the Gomaya Sampoorna Puja Kit covers the remaining samagri, and a wooden pooja mandap gives the idol a proper seat.

What if you cannot find all 21 leaves?

This is the single most common question from families in the USA, and the tradition has a clear answer: offer what you can, with devotion. Shastra is explicit that unavailability is not an obstacle — a leaf you cannot obtain may be substituted with durva, or the offering may be made mentally while reciting the name.

In practice, most households outside India manage five or six of the twenty-one from a local Indian grocer or their own garden:

• Durva grass — the most important single offering
• Tulsi — grown on many diaspora windowsills
• Mango leaves — sold fresh at most Indian grocery stores
• Jasmine and pomegranate — commonly available
• Marjoram — sold as a culinary herb in American supermarkets

The remaining fifteen — bael, shami, apamarga, arka, sindhuvara and the rest — simply do not grow in most of North America, which is why a pre-assembled patri pack exists at all.

For durva specifically, many families in the USA keep a permanent metal durva as a year-round substitute for fresh grass: a silver durva, a gold-plated durva, a brass doob set, or a durva kanthi mala to garland the idol.

Why is Tulsi in the list when Tulsi is not offered to Ganesha?

A fair catch, and it trips up a lot of people. The well-known Puranic story has Tulsi cursing Ganesha and Ganesha cursing her in return, and on that basis Tulsi is normally kept away from Ganapati worship.

The exception is Patri Puja. In the Ekavimshati Patra list, Tulsi appears at number eight and is offered to Ganesha under the name Gajakarnaka. The reconciliation usually given is that the curse governs everyday worship, while the twenty-one-leaf offering on Ganesh Chaturthi is a complete-and-entire offering in which nothing is withheld. Some families still leave Tulsi out. Both practices are followed, and neither is treated as an error.

Regional variation is normal

The list above is the one most widely followed in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra. You will find respectable variants elsewhere — Gandaki, Machi and Maruvaka in particular are identified with different plants in different regions, and a few traditions swap one entry for Kevada, Agasti or Kadamba.

If your family follows a list from your own tradition or your purohit, follow that one. The twenty-one leaves are a frame, not a checklist to be audited.

A note on handling

Several of the traditional patri leaves — datura, oleander (kaner) and arka among them — are poisonous plants. They are ritual offerings only. Do not eat them, brew them, or use them in any preparation, and keep them out of reach of children and pets during and after the puja. Wash your hands after handling. Nothing in this article is medical or health advice.

Ganesh Chaturthi 2026

Ganesh Chaturthi falls on Monday, 14 September 2026, with Anant Chaturdashi and visarjan ten days later. Households observing the full ten days typically perform the detailed Patri Puja on the first day, then a shorter daily puja through to visarjan.

If you are planning ahead, our Pooja Samagri and Festive Specials collections carry the patri pack alongside idols, kits and mandaps. For families who prefer to make their own murti, the Urja natural clay idol-making kit, the eco-friendly pottery kit and the plantable Ganesha mould kit have become a favourite way to involve children — and an eco-friendly gomaya Ganesha dissolves cleanly at visarjan.

Frequently asked questions

What are the 21 leaves used in Ganesh Puja?

The twenty-one leaves of Ekavimshati Patra Puja are machi, brihati, bilva, durva, datura, badari, apamarga, tulsi, mango, karavira, vishnukranta, pomegranate, devadaru, maruvaka, sindhuvara, jasmine, gandaki, shami, peepal, arjuna and arka. Each is offered while reciting one of the twenty-one names of Ganesha.

Can I do Ganesh Puja without all 21 leaves?

Yes. The tradition explicitly permits substitution — unavailable leaves may be replaced with durva grass, or offered mentally while reciting the name. Devotion, not completeness of the collection, is what the ritual asks for.

Which leaf is most important for Ganesha?

Durva grass (Cynodon dactylon). It is the offering most closely associated with Ganapati, is offered in pairs, and is commonly given in twenty-one pairs in addition to its place in the patri list.

Is Tulsi offered to Ganesha?

Generally no, on account of the Puranic curse — but Tulsi is included in the twenty-one-leaf Patri Puja on Ganesh Chaturthi, where it is offered under the name Gajakarnaka. Some families still omit it. Both practices are accepted.

When is Ganesh Chaturthi in 2026?

Monday, 14 September 2026. Visarjan on Anant Chaturdashi follows ten days later.

Where can I buy the 21 leaves for Ganesh Puja in the USA?

PushMyCart ships a pre-sorted 21 Types of Leaves for Ganesh Patri Pooja pack across the United States, with an Eka Vimshati Patri Puja pamphlet giving the mantra for each leaf in Sanskrit, Hindi, English and Tamil.

Ganpati Bappa Morya.