Ganpati Bappa Morya! Shilpa Shetty, Ankita Lokhande and Sunita Ahuja Begin Ganeshotsav 2026

Ganesh Chaturthi 2026 has begun with devotees across India bringing Lord Ganesha home, and Mumbai's celebrity community is once again marking the festival with its own family traditions. Among those welcoming Bappa this year are Shilpa Shetty, Ankita Lokhande and Sunita Ahuja, whose celebrations have been captured in videos and photographs circulating from the festival's opening day.

Ganesh Chaturthi is being observed on September 14, 2026, marking the beginning of the traditional 10-day Ganeshotsav period. The festival will culminate with Ganesh Visarjan around Anant Chaturdashi.

For Bollywood and television personalities, the festival has become an annual occasion to combine family rituals, devotion and community celebrations. This year's early festivities again reflect that mix, although each celebrity family's celebration has its own character.

Shilpa Shetty Welcomes Bappa With Family

Shilpa Shetty is among the celebrities who have continued to observe Ganesh Chaturthi as an important part of their family celebrations.

Videos from this year's festivities show the actress participating in the welcome and prayer rituals for Lord Ganesha. Her husband Raj Kundra has also been part of the family's Ganpati traditions in previous years.

The celebrations are particularly associated with Shilpa's public devotion to Ganpati. Over the years, she has regularly shared glimpses of the festival, including the arrival of the idol, aarti and visarjan.

For Shilpa, therefore, Ganesh Chaturthi is not simply a celebrity appearance or a festive photo opportunity. It has become a recurring family tradition that she has openly documented over several years.

Ankita Lokhande Brings Bappa Home

Television and film actor Ankita Lokhande also marked the beginning of Ganeshotsav by bringing Bappa home.

Footage from her 2026 celebrations shows the actor participating in the process of welcoming the idol. Her appearance during the celebrations adds another familiar name from the television and Hindi entertainment industry to this year's celebrity Ganpati festivities.

Lokhande has previously been open about her spiritual side and her participation in Indian festivals. Her Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations have also featured prominently on social media in earlier years.

This year's celebration once again places the focus on the religious and family aspect of the festival rather than a conventional entertainment event.

Sunita Ahuja Welcomes Ganpati Bappa

Sunita Ahuja, wife of actor Govinda, also welcomed Ganpati Bappa ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi.

Videos from the celebration show Sunita participating in the traditional welcome ceremony and dancing during the festivities. She brought the idol home on the eve of Ganesh Chaturthi, with the main festival beginning on September 14.

Her celebration has received additional attention because she was seen participating in the ceremony without Govinda appearing alongside her in the footage. Some social-media users subsequently raised questions about his absence.

However, that reaction should be treated carefully. There is no verified basis in the available celebration footage to draw conclusions about the couple's personal circumstances simply from Govinda not appearing in the ceremony. The Celebrity Hour is therefore not treating online speculation about their relationship as established fact.

The verifiable part of the story is straightforward: Sunita welcomed Bappa and took part in the festivities at home.

Ganesh Chaturthi Begins a Ten-Day Celebration

The celebrity celebrations are part of a much larger festival taking place across India.

Ganesh Chaturthi 2026 falls on Monday, September 14. The festival begins with the installation and worship of Ganesha idols in homes, temples and public pandals. The larger Ganeshotsav period traditionally continues for several days, with the principal immersion taking place on Anant Chaturdashi.

Mumbai remains one of the most prominent centres of the celebration, with public pandals, neighbourhood festivities and celebrity homes all becoming part of the city's annual Ganpati atmosphere.

This year, major public celebrations are again drawing large crowds, including at iconic Mumbai locations such as Lalbaugcha Raja and Siddhivinayak Temple.

From Private Rituals to Public Celebrations

One interesting feature of celebrity Ganesh Chaturthi coverage is the contrast between private family rituals and large public celebrations.

Stars such as Shilpa Shetty and Ankita Lokhande have traditionally shared selected moments from their home celebrations, while some celebrity families participate in much larger public festivities.

The Ambani family's Ganpati celebrations have also attracted attention this year, with videos showing family members taking part in traditional rituals and the idol procession.

Together, these celebrations demonstrate how Ganesh Chaturthi operates on different scales from a family bringing an idol into its living room to massive public gatherings involving thousands of devotees.

Why Ganpati Remains Special for Mumbai's Film Industry

Ganesh Chaturthi has a particularly strong connection with Mumbai's cultural identity and entertainment industry.

For decades, actors, producers, musicians and other members of the film fraternity have participated in Ganpati celebrations. The tradition has also become a recurring part of Bollywood's annual calendar, with celebrities often sharing their personal rituals with audiences.

Yet the religious significance remains at the centre of the festival. The arrival of Ganesha is traditionally associated with seeking blessings for wisdom, prosperity and the removal of obstacles.

That combination of faith, family and community is what makes Ganesh Chaturthi different from a conventional celebrity event.

The Celebrity Hour Take

The most interesting aspect of this year's celebrity Ganesh Chaturthi coverage is not simply the number of stars welcoming Bappa. It is the continuity of personal traditions.

Shilpa Shetty's celebrations, Ankita Lokhande's participation and Sunita Ahuja's home welcome all come from different corners of the entertainment industry, but they share a common thread: Ganesh Chaturthi remains a festival that celebrities observe as part of their personal lives, not merely as a public appearance.

At the same time, celebrity coverage needs to distinguish between what is actually visible in a celebration and what audiences may speculate about it. Sunita Ahuja's solo appearance, for example, can be reported as a fact; assumptions about why Govinda was not seen should not be presented as confirmed information.

For The Celebrity Hour, that distinction matters. The festival story is ultimately about the arrival of Bappa and the traditions surrounding Ganeshotsav—not about manufacturing a controversy around a family celebration.

What to Expect During Ganeshotsav 2026

With the festival now underway, more celebrities are expected to share glimpses of their Ganpati celebrations, aartis, home decorations and eventual visarjan ceremonies.

The coming days will also bring the larger public side of Mumbai's Ganeshotsav into focus, with major pandals and neighbourhood celebrations continuing throughout the festival period.

For now, Shilpa Shetty, Ankita Lokhande and Sunita Ahuja are among the familiar entertainment personalities who have marked the beginning of Ganesh Chaturthi 2026 by welcoming Bappa into their homes.

Sources & Verification

This The Celebrity Hour report was independently researched using current 2026 Ganesh Chaturthi coverage and publicly available footage of celebrity celebrations. The date and broader festival timeline were cross-checked against current festival reporting, while the individual celebrations of Shilpa Shetty, Ankita Lokhande and Sunita Ahuja were checked against current entertainment coverage and available celebration videos.

The report deliberately separates documented events from social-media speculation, particularly regarding Sunita Ahuja's celebration. The absence of another family member from a video has not been treated as evidence of any particular personal or marital circumstance.