Sarva Pitru Amavasya (Mahalaya)

About Sarva Pitru Amavasya (Mahalaya)

Significance

Sarva Pitru Amavasya, the new moon that ends Pitru Paksha, is called Mahalaya Amavasya in much of India and simply Mahalaya in Bengal. It is the Shraddha for all ancestors together: those who died on an Amavasya, those whose death tithi is not known, those whose own tithi was missed during the fortnight, and those who died a natural death on a Chaturdashi.

Dharma Sindhu treats this day as the last resort for anyone who could not keep the Mahalaya on other days and describes a single-day (sakrit) Mahalaya with pinda-dana. The Mahabharata’s tithi list (Anushasana Parva, Section 87) says a Shraddha on the new moon fulfils every wish, and the Brahma Purana’s list speaks of all-round well-being; both are statements of traditional merit.

How and where it is observed

In Bengal, Mahalaya marks the end of Pitri Paksha and the start of Devi Paksha, the fortnight of the Goddess that leads to Durga Puja; people offer tarpana at the Ganga and other rivers in the early morning, and many listen to Mahishasuramardini, a radio programme of Chandi recitation and songs that All India Radio has broadcast at dawn on this day for decades. In Tamil Nadu and elsewhere in the South, Mahalaya Amavasai is a major day for tarpana at temple tanks, rivers and the sea. Sharad Navratri begins the next morning.

Rituals

Families perform a full Mahalaya Shraddha or at least tarpana, naming in the resolve the three paternal generations, the maternal line and other relatives, teachers and friends, and often adding a general offering for all departed souls who have no one to remember them. Brahmanas are fed, pindas offered and food set out for the crow, cow and dog; gifts of food, clothing and grain are common. Many people also go to places such as Gaya, Prayagraj, Varanasi or the seashore for the day’s tarpana.

How the date is fixed

The date is Bhadrapada Amavasya in the Amanta calendar, which Purnimanta calendars call Ashvina Amavasya, on the day the new-moon tithi holds the afternoon Aparahna. Sharad Navratri’s Ghatasthapana is decided by Pratipada at the next sunrise, so in most years Navratri begins the day after this Shraddha, and the Dauhitra Shraddha for a maternal grandfather, on Ashvina Shukla Pratipada, usually falls on that same next day.

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)
• Dharma Sindhu, Tritiya Pariccheda, Uttarardha: who performs Shraddha; the daughter’s son’s Shraddha on Ashvina Shukla Pratipada (Essence of Dharma Sindhu, ch. 25)
• Mahabharata, Anushasana Parva, Section 87 (K.M. Ganguli translation): Bhishma on Shraddha and the result of each lunar day
• Brahma Purana, Shraddha-kalpa: tithi-wise list for the fortnight when the Sun is in Kanya (as summarised in Essence of Dharma Sindhu, ch. 7)
• 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.