Discover Phuket’s first Ganesh Chaturthi in 2025: drums, processions in Old Phuket Town, and the new Sri Mantra Kanapati temple. Culture, community, and color.
In September 2025, the streets of Old Phuket Town filled with drumbeats, flowers, and light as the island hosted Ganesh Chaturthi—also known as Ganeshotsav—for the first time. The celebration brought together more than 10,000 people, from residents and tourists to members of the Indian community.
Ganeshotsav is a major religious festival in India honoring Ganesha, the elephant-headed deity revered as a patron of wisdom, good fortune, and new beginnings. Once familiar mostly within India, it has now found a place in Thailand—right here on Phuket.
The heart of the celebration was the new Sri Mantra Kanapati Hindu temple in Rawai, modeled after a renowned shrine in the Indian city of Pune. An adorned statue of Ganesha was installed there before the main event began: a ceremonial procession through the streets of Phuket Town.
Dozens of musicians from India played traditional drums. People danced and sang, lining the route with flowers and flags—the mood loud, bright, unmistakably festive. Phuket’s mayor said the event helps build ties between cultures and expressed hope that the festival would become an annual fixture.
Phuket has long been known as a beach escape, but the island is increasingly positioning itself as a stage for ambitious cultural gatherings. In 2024, it even received an international award as a “city of festivals.”
Ganeshotsav adds another step in that direction. The celebration speaks not only to the faithful; it also attracts those who enjoy vivid public events, want to explore another culture, or simply crave the pulse of a true festival.
For now, Ganeshotsav has been held just once. Organizers hope it will become a yearly tradition. Interest was strong, and the public response was notably warm. Give it a couple of years, and it could well stand alongside Phuket’s other marquee festivals.
For the moment, it is a clear sign of how the island is evolving—not just a place for the beach, but a platform for cultural experiences from around the world. And it leaves a tempting question: what other unexpected celebrations might take root here next?
