28 September 2091
Day 1 of 15- Tithi
- Krishna Pratipada · until 11:37 PM
- Nakshatra
- Uttara Bhadrapada
- Sunrise – Sunset
- 5:27 AM – 5:26 PM
- Abhijit Muhurta
- 11:03 AM – 11:51 AM
Festival · 2091
Pitru Paksha 2091
Falls on 28 September 2091 in Kolkata, as computed from the real sky for that city.
The portal of Festivals
Today's three riddles
Turn a card. Answer all three rightly and this portal is sealed in your sky. New riddles every morning.
Remembering together, this Pitru Paksha
In these days of remembrance, may the love of those who came before you feel close, and may their kindness live on through yours.
मातृदेवो भव । पितृदेवो भव ।
mātṛdevo bhava । pitṛdevo bhava ।
Its meaning
Let your mother be a god to you. Let your father be a god to you.
Taittirīya Upaniṣad 1.11.2
When, for Kolkata
28 September 2091
Krishna Pratipada · until 11:37 PM
Do
Offer water at dawn and say aloud the names of those before you that you know, and thank them for one thing each.
Leave aside
Fear of angry ancestors. Those who loved you do not curse you; remember them with gratitude.
Send this as your wish
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Remembering together, this Pitru Paksha
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In 23,725 days
The sky that day
- The Moon
- Krishna Pratipada
- The Sun is in
- Kanya
- The Moon is in
- Meena, in Uttara Bhadrapada
The Moon wanes from full to new across the whole fortnight, and the tradition holds that one lunar month is a single day for the pitris, so these days are kept in their light.
What the day is
A fortnight for the ancestors — tarpana, and the remembering of those who made you possible. Not mourning; maintenance of a line.
The story
4 stories the day keeps. Turn each card.
1 / 4Karna asks to go backTurn ↻
Karna gave away gold all his life, and in the next world he was offered gold to eat. He learned why: he had given everything except food and water to those who came before him. He was granted fifteen days on earth to offer them, and those days became Pitru Paksha.
As the living tradition keeps it; the story is not in the Mahabharata itself.
2 / 4Rama's offering in the forestTurn ↻
When Rama heard in the forest that his father had died, he offered water at the river and made the offering with what he himself ate there, the pulp of forest fruit. He said that what a man eats, his ancestors eat too.
Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kanda.
3 / 4Bhagiratha brings the GangaTurn ↻
The sixty thousand sons of Sagara lay as ash, and three generations tried to bring the Ganga down to give them rest. Bhagiratha, the fourth, did it. A whole river crossed the earth because one descendant would not forget those before him.
Valmiki Ramayana, Bala Kanda.
4 / 4Let the father be a god to youTurn ↻
As students leave the teacher's house, they are told: let your mother be a god to you, let your father be a god to you. Shraddha, the rite of these days, takes its name from shraddha, faith: what is done for them is done with trust and with love.
Taittiriya Upanishad 1.11.
The days around it
5 days kept as one season. Each has its own page.
- Pitru Paksha
Fifteen days of water and names for those before us.
You are here - Day 2
Mahalaya Amavasya
The last day of the fortnight: every ancestor remembered, even those whose day is forgotten.
- Sharada Navaratri
Nine nights, nine forms of the Mother; one practice kept unbroken.
13 October 2091 - Vijayadashami · Dussehra
Victory on the tenth; a new learning begun.
21 October 2091 - Sharad Purnima
The full Moon of autumn; kheer under its light, and the night kept awake.
27 October 2091
What is said, and what is so
Often said
Ancestors left without offerings grow angry and bring trouble on the family.
The root
The texts speak of the pitris as givers of blessing, and of these days as a time to thank them. The rite is named for faith and love, not appeasement, and no ancestor is a debt collector.
Often said
Shraddha needs a costly ceremony, or it does not reach them.
The root
Rama offered forest fruit. The Vishnu Purana tells of one who has nothing at all: he goes to a quiet place, raises both arms and says to the pitris, I have no wealth, I offer you my devotion. That is held to be enough.
Often said
If the crow does not eat, the ancestors are displeased.
The root
Food is set out for crows, cows, dogs and the hungry because the offering is meant to feed all beings. The feeding is the rite; reading omens in a bird's appetite is not.
How to keep Pitru Paksha
Free acts, done by you. Kept so far this year: 0 of 3.
Offer water at dawn and say aloud the names of those before you that you know, and thank them for one thing each.
Feed someone in their memory: a full meal, given simply, to a person who needs it.
Ask the eldest in your family for the names of their grandparents, and write them down where they will be kept.
Each act is free and done by you. Keeping one writes it to your karma ledger with the day's panchang. Nothing here is ever bought, and no act is a remedy.
The family's part
The youngest
Learns the names of their great grandparents and one thing each of them did.
The eldest
Tells a story of a parent or grandparent, the good and the hard together, as it truly was.
Everyone
Before the meal, a plate is set aside for the birds and a portion for someone who is hungry.
How India keeps it
Gaya, Bihar
Families come from across India to offer pinda at the Vishnupad temple and along the Phalgu river.
Bengal
Mahalaya dawn begins with Mahishasura Mardini on the radio, and tarpan at the Ganga ghats; the Devi's season opens from the ancestors' day.
Tamil Nadu
Mahalaya Amavasai is the great day: tarpanam by the sea and the rivers, at Rameswaram and many shores.
Maharashtra and the south
Food is set out for the crows first, and only then does the household eat.
The day, for Kolkata
29 September 2091
Day 2 of 15- Tithi
- Krishna Dwitiya · until 2:00 AM, 30 September 2091
- Nakshatra
- Revati
- Sunrise – Sunset
- 5:27 AM – 5:25 PM
- Abhijit Muhurta
- 11:02 AM – 11:50 AM
30 September 2091
Day 3 of 15- Tithi
- Krishna Tritiya · until 4:29 AM, 1 October 2091
- Nakshatra
- Ashwini
- Sunrise – Sunset
- 5:27 AM – 5:25 PM
- Abhijit Muhurta
- 11:02 AM – 11:50 AM
1 October 2091
Day 4 of 15- Tithi
- Krishna Chaturthi · until 6:57 AM, 2 October 2091
- Nakshatra
- Bharani
- Sunrise – Sunset
- 5:28 AM – 5:24 PM
- Abhijit Muhurta
- 11:02 AM – 11:49 AM
2 October 2091
Day 4 of 15- Tithi
- Krishna Chaturthi · until 6:57 AM
- Nakshatra
- Krittika
- Sunrise – Sunset
- 5:28 AM – 5:23 PM
- Abhijit Muhurta
- 11:01 AM – 11:49 AM
3 October 2091
Day 5 of 15- Tithi
- Krishna Panchami · until 9:17 AM
- Nakshatra
- Rohini
- Sunrise – Sunset
- 5:28 AM – 5:22 PM
- Abhijit Muhurta
- 11:01 AM – 11:49 AM
4 October 2091
Day 6 of 15- Tithi
- Krishna Shashthi · until 11:18 AM
- Nakshatra
- Mrigashira
- Sunrise – Sunset
- 5:29 AM – 5:21 PM
- Abhijit Muhurta
- 11:01 AM – 11:48 AM
5 October 2091
Day 7 of 15- Tithi
- Krishna Saptami · until 12:51 PM
- Nakshatra
- Ardra
- Sunrise – Sunset
- 5:29 AM – 5:20 PM
- Abhijit Muhurta
- 11:01 AM – 11:48 AM
6 October 2091
Day 8 of 15- Tithi
- Krishna Ashtami · until 1:46 PM
- Nakshatra
- Ardra
- Sunrise – Sunset
- 5:29 AM – 5:19 PM
- Abhijit Muhurta
- 11:00 AM – 11:48 AM
7 October 2091
Day 9 of 15- Tithi
- Krishna Navami · until 1:57 PM
- Nakshatra
- Punarvasu
- Sunrise – Sunset
- 5:30 AM – 5:18 PM
- Abhijit Muhurta
- 11:00 AM – 11:47 AM
8 October 2091
Day 10 of 15- Tithi
- Krishna Dashami · until 1:20 PM
- Nakshatra
- Pushya
- Sunrise – Sunset
- 5:30 AM – 5:17 PM
- Abhijit Muhurta
- 11:00 AM – 11:47 AM
9 October 2091
Day 11 of 15- Tithi
- Krishna Ekadashi · until 11:55 AM
- Nakshatra
- Ashlesha
- Sunrise – Sunset
- 5:30 AM – 5:16 PM
- Abhijit Muhurta
- 11:00 AM – 11:47 AM
10 October 2091
Day 12 of 15- Tithi
- Krishna Dwadashi · until 9:45 AM
- Nakshatra
- Purva Phalguni
- Sunrise – Sunset
- 5:31 AM – 5:15 PM
- Abhijit Muhurta
- 10:59 AM – 11:46 AM
11 October 2091
Day 13 of 15- Tithi
- Krishna Trayodashi · until 6:57 AM
- Nakshatra
- Uttara Phalguni
- Sunrise – Sunset
- 5:31 AM – 5:14 PM
- Abhijit Muhurta
- 10:59 AM – 11:46 AM
12 October 2091
Day 15 of 15- Tithi
- Krishna Amavasya · until 12:00 AM, 13 October 2091
- Nakshatra
- Hasta
- Sunrise – Sunset
- 5:31 AM – 5:13 PM
- Abhijit Muhurta
- 10:59 AM – 11:46 AM
The day is chosen by the moment the tradition reads its tithi at, and the times are that day's own, computed for this city. A festival-specific puja window is not printed: those rules differ by tradition and await a scholar's review.
For another city
The stories, their sources and the regional customs on this page await a scholar's review. The sky and the dates are computed for your city.