Pitru Paksha: What, Why, When, How

What it is

Pitru Paksha, "the fortnight of the ancestors", also called Mahalaya Paksha or simply Shraddh, is the dark half of the moon that follows the full moon of Bhadrapada, in early autumn. For about fifteen days families remember their parents, grandparents and all the generations before them with gratitude. They offer water, food and prayers, give to people in need, and tell the stories of those who came before.

Each family member who has passed away is remembered on the day of the fortnight whose tithi matches the tithi of their passing. The last day, Sarva Pitru Amavasya or Mahalaya Amavasya, is for all ancestors together, including those whose tithi the family does not know. In Bengal the dawn of Mahalaya, with offerings of water at the river, also opens the season of Durga Puja, and Sharad Navratri begins with the bright half that follows, usually the next day.

It is a quiet and loving time, not a sad or fearful one. Many families keep it simple: a lamp, a photograph, a favourite dish, a gift of food to someone hungry, and a moment to say thank you.

Why it is kept

Honouring the Fathers in the Veda. Remembering the ancestors is among the oldest acts of the tradition. A hymn of the Rig Veda says, in R. T. H. Griffith's translation: “Now let us pay this homage to the Fathers, to those who passed of old and those who followed” (Book 10, Hymn 15). The Taittiriya Upanishad's parting advice to a student includes, in Max Müller's translation, “Do not neglect the (sacrificial) works due to the Gods and Fathers!” (1.11.2), in the same breath as honouring mother, father, teacher and guest.

Rama's offering in the forest. Valmiki's Ramayana tells how Rama, living in the forest, heard from Bharata that their father Dasharatha had died. He grieved, went down to the river, and facing south offered water to his father. Then, with what the forest gave him, he made a cake of jujube and ingudi fruit, laid it on sacred grass and said, in Griffith's translation, “Enjoy, great King, the cake which we / Thy children eat and offer thee!” (Book 2, Canto 103). Families find in it the heart of shraddha: an offering of love, made with whatever one has, wherever one is.

A hymn that completes the rite. In the Markandeya Purana (cantos 95 to 98 in F. E. Pargiter's translation), the sage Ruchi praises the ancestors in a hymn. In the text the ancestors say that a shraddha, even one performed imperfectly, is made complete when this hymn is recited with it. That is the text's own word, and it comforts many families who live far from priests and rivers.

Karna and the gift of food (popular telling). A story told across North India says that when Karna, famous for his generosity, reached heaven, he was offered gold to eat, because in life he had given gold but had never offered food to his ancestors. He was allowed to return to earth for these fifteen days to offer food and water in memory of his ancestors. The story is not in the Mahabharata's text, but it is a loved way of saying that the simplest gift, food shared in memory, matters most.

The self that does not die. Many families read the Bhagavad Gita in these days, above all its second chapter, where Krishna tells Arjuna that the self is never born and never dies (2.20), and that it leaves a worn-out body as a person puts aside worn-out clothes (2.22).

The texts behind the story

• Rig Veda, Book 10, Hymn 15, stanza 2 (to the Fathers). R. T. H. Griffith (tr.), The Hymns of the Rigveda, vol. 4 (Benares: E. J. Lazarus, 1892). Griffith died 1906: public domain. Quoted verbatim. (Book X, Hymn XV, stanza 2, p. 130)
• Taittiriya Upanishad 1.11.2. F. Max Müller (tr.), The Upanishads, Part 2, Sacred Books of the East vol. 15 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1884). Müller died 1900: public domain. Quoted verbatim. (Taittiriya Upanishad, Siksha Valli, eleventh anuvaka, 2, p. 52)
• Valmiki, Ramayana, Book 2 (Ayodhya Kanda), Canto 103 "The Funeral Libation". R. T. H. Griffith (tr.), The Rámáyan of Válmíki (London: Trübner, 1870–74), Project Gutenberg transcription. Public domain. Quoted verbatim. (Book II, Canto CIII)
• Markandeya Purana, cantos 95–98 (Ruchi's hymn to the Pitris, the Pitri Stotra). F. E. Pargiter (tr.), The Markandeya Purana (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1904). Public domain. Summarised in our own words. (cantos 95–98, pp. 526–538; the Pitris' words on the hymn, canto 97, verses 27–34, p. 537)
• Bhagavad Gita, 2.20
• Bhagavad Gita, 2.22
• Karna and the gift of food: popular North Indian telling, not in the Mahabharata's text. Summarised in our own words.

When it is kept

Pitru Paksha is the dark fortnight that follows the full moon of Bhadrapada: Bhadrapada Krishna in the amanta calendar, called Ashvin Krishna in the purnimanta calendar of North India. It ends with Sarva Pitru Amavasya, the new moon. The app also lists the full moon before it as Purnima Shraddha, the first day, as many calendars do. The shraddha for each tithi falls on the day on which that tithi is present during aparahna, the fourth of the five parts of the daytime at your location, the time the texts give for the rite. When the tithi covers aparahna on two days, the day with more of it is taken. This follows the Dharmasindhu, as Smarta panchangs apply it. The app shows the day for each tithi, so a family can find the day for each person they remember.

The date, from the calendar engine

• Pitru Paksha 2027: Pitru Paksha falls on Wednesday, September 15, 2027 in Washington DC (computed for this city). The date is the same in New Delhi.

The date depends on your city. Every city we cover is on the year page.

Traditions and regional customs

• Smarta (Dharmasindhu): each shraddha on the day its tithi holds aparahna; Sarva Pitru Amavasya last
• Month name: Bhadrapada Krishna (amanta), Ashvin Krishna (purnimanta)
• Bengali: Mahalaya tarpan at dawn on the Amavasya, opening Devi Paksha
• Tamil and South Indian: Mahalaya Paksham and Mahalaya Amavasya tarpanam
• Many families: Matru Navami for mothers, and the Amavasya for all and for unknown tithis

Why the day can differ

Aparahna is part of your own day, so the shraddha day for a tithi can differ between cities, and a family abroad can keep a day that differs by one from relatives in India. Each keeps the day computed for where they are.

Families differ in many details, and each is right for that family. Some keep a shraddha for each ancestor on that ancestor's tithi; others keep one day, often the Amavasya, for all. Some keep special days: Navami for mothers, and Chaturdashi for those who passed away suddenly or in an accident. Traditionally the rites are done by sons or other male relatives; in many families today daughters, wives and other relatives also offer water and food, and families follow their own practice. A family in the first year after a loss often follows special rules; ask your family priest. Many families avoid weddings, housewarmings and large purchases in these two weeks, keeping them for remembrance; others do not follow this custom.

How to keep it at home

1. On the day for the person you remember, bathe and set a clean place with their photograph, a lamp and incense. Sit quietly for a moment and remember them by name.
2. Offer water (tarpan): many families face south and pour water mixed with black sesame seeds through the fingers, with a ring or a few blades of kusha grass, saying the names of the ancestors. Abroad, the water can be poured into a vessel and later given to a plant or the earth.
3. Cook a simple meal, often with the dishes the person loved, without onion or garlic by many families' custom. Set aside a portion as the offering; many families also set out a little food for birds, a cow or a dog, as their custom is.
4. Feed others in their memory: invite a priest or guests for the meal, or give food or a meal to people in need, to a temple kitchen or a food bank. Families who wish to offer pinda, the rice balls of the full rite, can ask a priest at the temple, or arrange it with a priest in India, including at Gaya.
5. Read or listen to something that brings peace: the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Ruchi's Pitri Stotra, the Vishnu Sahasranama, or the prayers the person loved. Share a story about them with the children.
6. On Sarva Pitru Amavasya, remember all the ancestors together, especially anyone whose tithi the family does not know, with water, a lamp and a gift of food.

Fasting

Pitru Paksha is not a fast for most families. The person who performs a shraddha often eats nothing until the offering is made, and then shares the meal. Many families keep simple food during the fortnight. Anyone unwell should eat as their doctor advises; remembrance does not require going without food.

Food

The shraddha meal is simple and lovingly cooked: kheer, puri, a dal, seasonal vegetables such as pumpkin or gourd, and the dishes the remembered person enjoyed. Black sesame, rice and milk are common in the offering, and many families cook without onion or garlic.

Prayers read at this time

• Bhagavad Gita
• Bhagavad Gita

For children

Every family has people who lived before us: grandparents, great-grandparents and many more, going back and back. They cooked, worked, sang, and passed on our family's stories and recipes. In Pitru Paksha families stop for a few days to remember them and to say thank you. They light a lamp, cook a favourite dish, share food with someone hungry, and tell their stories.

Something to do together

Draw a family tree together, with photographs or drawings of grandparents and great-grandparents. Ask an elder to tell one story about someone on the tree, and write it beside their name.

Sources

• Panchang engine rule pitru-paksha (packages/panchang/data/festivals.json), with the sources it lists, including the Dharmasindhu (Kashinatha Upadhyaya, 1790) for the aparahna rule.
• R. T. H. Griffith (tr.), The Hymns of the Rigveda, vol. 4 (Benares, 1892), Book 10, Hymn 15. Public domain.
• F. Max Müller (tr.), The Upanishads, Part 2, Sacred Books of the East vol. 15 (Oxford, 1884). Public domain.
• R. T. H. Griffith (tr.), The Rámáyan of Válmíki (1870–74), Book 2, Canto 103. Public domain.
• F. E. Pargiter (tr.), The Markandeya Purana (Calcutta, 1904), cantos 95–98. Public domain.
• Bhagavad Gita

Related guides

• Sharad Navratri and Durga Puja