Pitru Paksha 2027 (पितृ पक्ष)

• Shraddh — the annual rite kept on the tithi of a death
• Tarpan — water offered with sesame, kept daily through Pitru Paksha
• Pind Daan — the offering made at Gaya for three generations of ancestors

Pitru Paksha is the dark fortnight of Ashwin, sixteen days given to the forefathers. It is not a festival and is not kept as one: no marriage is fixed in it, no house entered, no new work begun, and the observance is owed rather than chosen.

The rites are tarpan, water offered with black sesame through the fingers, and shraddha, in which pinda of rice and barley are offered and then given to a crow, a cow or the river. The day used is the tithi on which the person died, so a family keeps its own dates within the fortnight rather than a common one.

Sarva Pitru Amavasya, the last day, carries the rites for anyone whose tithi is unknown or was missed — those who died away from home, or without a son to perform them. It is the busiest day of the sixteen.

Gaya is the principal place for it. Pind daan at the Vishnupad temple and on the Falgu is held in the tradition to complete what is owed, and the town fills for the fortnight; Varanasi, Prayagraj, Haridwar and Nashik carry the same rites at their own ghats.

Explore more

• Gaya