Pitru Paksha 2027
15 September – 29 September 2027

Pitru Paksha is not a single day but a fortnight kept for the ancestors (pitrs). It begins with the Purnima Shraddha on Bhadrapada Purnima, runs through Ashwin Krishna paksha and ends on Sarva Pitru Amavasya, also called Mahalaya Amavasya. Each family offers shraddh for a parent or ancestor on the tithi of their death, read in the afternoon, and those whose tithi is not known are remembered on the Amavasya.

The word shraddh comes from shraddha, faith: what is offered with faith is believed to reach the ancestors. Tradition holds that the pitrs come close to their descendants in this fortnight, and families offer tarpan (water with sesame), pinda daan (rice balls) and a meal to Brahmins. The Garuda Purana is among the texts that describe shraddh, and Gaya, on the Phalgu river, is held to be the greatest place for pinda daan.

• Black til (sesame)
• Kusha grass
• Jau (barley) and rice
• Copper lota and a plate for tarpan
• Ganga jal
• Cooked rice or barley flour, ghee and til for pindas
• White flowers and tulsi leaves
• Ghee diya
• Leaf plates (pattal) for the pancha bali portions
• The shraddh meal, often with kheer and puri
• Dakshina and clothes for the Brahmin

Source: Popular tradition associated with the Mahabharata; it is not found as such in the epic’s text

Karna, the son of Surya and Kunti who was raised by the charioteer Adhiratha, was known through his life as a great giver, who never turned away anyone who asked. When he died in the Kurukshetra war and reached the world beyond, he was given gold and jewels to eat instead of food.

Puzzled, he asked Indra why. Indra told him that he had given away gold all his life, but had never offered food or water to his ancestors, so gold was what came back to him. Karna answered that he had not known who his ancestors were, since he learned only late in life that he was Kunti’s son.

Indra allowed him to return to earth for a fortnight. Karna came back, offered water and food to his ancestors with tarpan and shraddh, and then returned. That fortnight, the story says, is kept ever since as Pitru Paksha.

What to do

• Offer the shraddh on the tithi of the death, in the afternoon, since that is the time tradition sets aside for the pitrs.
• Keep the meal simple and cooked with care; what matters is the shraddha with which it is offered, not how lavish it is.
• Remember the special days: Navami for mothers and women who died as suhagans, Chaturdashi for those who died untimely deaths, and the Amavasya for all whose tithi is not known.
• Even if a full shraddh is not possible, offering water with til and a portion of food to a cow or crow on the day is a way families keep the remembrance.

What to avoid

• New purchases are usually put off until the fortnight is over, gently, since these days are kept for the ancestors rather than for the household’s own wants.
• Auspicious beginnings such as weddings, griha pravesh and mundan are not planned in this fortnight; families wait for Navratri, which begins the next day.
• Onion, garlic, meat and alcohol are kept away from the shraddh meal, and many homes keep them out of the kitchen for the whole fortnight, so the food stays sattvik.

In Bengal, Mahalaya, the Amavasya that ends the fortnight, is also the start of Devi Paksha, when the goddess is invoked for Durga Puja. In Maharashtra and the south the fortnight is often called Mahalaya Paksha. In the Amanta calendars of Gujarat, Maharashtra and the south, the same fortnight is Bhadrapada Krishna paksha, since those months end on Amavasya; in the Purnimanta calendar of the north it is Ashwin Krishna. The days are the same; only the month name differs.

Each shraddh is kept on the day its tithi holds in the afternoon, read at each place. A tithi can be skipped or can cover two afternoons, so two shraddh tithis sometimes fall on one date, and the fortnight can run from fifteen to seventeen days. That is also why the date of a family’s shraddh can differ by a day between cities, or between India and abroad.