Pitru Paksha

About Pitru Paksha

Significance

Pitru Paksha, also called Mahalaya Paksha, Shraddha Paksha or, in much of North India, Kanagat, is the dark fortnight that follows the full moon of Bhadrapada. Dharma Sindhu places the Mahalaya Shraddhas from Krishna Pratipada to Amavasya of Bhadrapada (in the Amanta reckoning; the Purnimanta calendar calls the same fortnight Ashvina Krishna) and quotes a verse urging every householder to offer Shraddha while the Sun is in Kanya (Virgo). The name Kanagat is usually explained as a popular form of kanyagata, ‘the Sun in Kanya’.

The idea behind the fortnight is that the pitrs, the departed of the last three generations, are especially close to their descendants at this time and receive what is offered in their name. Each tithi of the fortnight is the day for those who died on that tithi, in either half of any month; the Chaturdashi is set apart for untimely deaths, and the Amavasya covers all ancestors, including those whose date of death is not known.

How and where it is observed

Shraddha is traditionally performed by a son, or in his absence by another relative entitled under family custom, and many families today include daughters and wives in the rites. Gaya in Bihar has long been the most celebrated place for ancestral rites: the Gaya Mahatmya of the Vayu Purana describes pinda offerings at the Vishnupad temple, on the Phalgu river and at the Akshayavat, and a large Pitripaksha Mela is held there every year. A popular legend, not found in the classical text of the Mahabharata, tells that Karna, who had given gold freely but never food to his ancestors, was allowed to return to earth for this fortnight to make good the omission. Many families also put off new purchases and festive ceremonies until the fortnight ends, a custom that varies.

Rituals

The heart of a Shraddha is the invitation and feeding of brahmanas who stand for the ancestors (brahmana-bhojana), the offering of rice balls mixed with sesame (pinda-dana), and the offering of water with sesame and kusha grass (tarpana), done with the sacred thread over the right shoulder and facing south. Portions of the meal are set aside for a cow, a dog, crows and ants; crows are popularly regarded as messengers who carry the offering to the pitrs. Yajnavalkya Smriti and Manusmriti, Chapter 3, describe the classical form; regional manuals and family custom settle the details, so follow your purohit.

How the date is fixed

On this site Pitru Paksha runs from the date of Purnima Shraddha to the date of Sarva Pitru Amavasya, each fixed by the tithi that prevails in Aparahna, the fourth of five equal parts of the daytime. Because tithis are of unequal length, the span is usually sixteen days but can be a day shorter or longer, and in some years two tithi Shraddhas fall on one date or a date has none. Amanta calendars call this the dark fortnight of Bhadrapada and Purnimanta calendars that of Ashvina; the dates are the same. In a year with an Adhik Bhadrapada, the fortnight is kept in the regular (Nija) month.

Sources

• Dharma Sindhu, Dwitiya Pariccheda, Bhadrapada: Mahalaya Paksha, Proshthapadi, Bharani, Magha-Trayodashi, Shastrahata Chaturdashi and Kapila Shashthi (English condensation: V.D.N. Rao, Essence of Dharma Sindhu, ch. 7)
• Vayu Purana, Gaya Mahatmya
• Gaya district administration, Government of Bihar (official site)
• Manusmriti, Chapter 3 (Shraddha)
• Yajnavalkya Smriti, Achara-adhyaya, Shraddha-prakarana
• Nirnaya Sindhu, Shraddha-nirnaya: the Shraddha tithi decided by its presence in Aparahna

Customs differ between regions, communities and families; this description is background, not a prescription. The date above is calculated by the rule shown on this page.