Amavasai · Amavasya · New moon Observance The new moon of the lunar month, and in the south the day of tarpanam for the ancestors: the son of the house offers water and sesame facing south, at the sea, a river or a tank.
The name
The same day, written in each of the six scripts this app keeps
- English
- Amavasai · Amavasya · New moon
- தமிழ்
- அமாவாசை
- తెలుగు
- అమావాస్య
- ಕನ್ನಡ
- ಅಮಾವಾಸ್ಯೆ
- മലയാളം
- അമാവാസി
- বাংলা
- অমাবস্যা
- मराठी
- अमावस्या
- नेपाली
- औंसी
- ਪੰਜਾਬੀ
- ਮੱਸਿਆ
- සිංහල
- අව පසළොස්වක පොහොය
UTC+5:30
The date of a festival depends on the place: a tithi that ends at dusk in Chennai can still be running at dusk a thousand kilometres west, which moves the day. Sunrise and sunset here are computed for the place above.
When it falls next
Looking for the calendar this day belongs to
This day does not fall again in the next three years at this place. A few days are tied to the solar month rather than to the civil year, so a year can hold two of them or none.
What the day is
The new moon of the lunar month, and in the south the day of tarpanam for the ancestors: the son of the house offers water and sesame facing south, at the sea, a river or a tank. It is not a festival, and no new work, journey or purchase is begun on it; the day belongs to the departed. Aadi, Thai and Mahalaya Amavasai are the three the whole family keeps.
- Deity
- Pitrus, Yama
- Kind
- Observance Days marked, watched or begun, without a fast or a feast of their own.
The hour
The rule in words
The Amavasai tithi in the afternoon, the aparahna, which is the hour prescribed for tarpanam; the bath comes first.
The fast
The one who offers tarpanam fasts until it is done and then eats one plain meal, without onion or garlic. Many households eat no non-vegetarian food on the day.
Where the regions differ
The south offers monthly tarpanam; the north keeps the Amavasya as a bathing and daan day and reserves the great tarpan for Sarva Pitru Amavasya. Somavati Amavasya, one that falls on a Monday, is held special everywhere. The Punjab calls it Masya, Nepal calls it Aunsi and keeps the Bhadra one as Kushe Aunsi for fathers and the Baisakh one as Mata Tirtha Aunsi for mothers, and the Sinhala Buddhist reckoning counts the new moon as the Ava Pasalosvaka Poya.
Every date here is computed from the Sun and Moon for the place entered, by the rule printed beside it. A printed panchangam can differ by a day where an almanac reads a tithi at a different instant, and a family's own custom always comes first. Where the practice genuinely varies, the text says so rather than choosing for you.