Sarva Pitru Amavasya · Mahalaya Festival The new moon that closes Pitru Paksha, on which shraddha is offered to every ancestor, and above all to those whose day of death is not known or who were missed during the fortnight.
The name
The same day, written in each of the six scripts this app keeps
- English
- Sarva Pitru Amavasya · Mahalaya
- हिन्दी
- सर्व पितृ अमावस्या · महालय
Only the names actually in use are listed. A blank script is not an omission: the day may simply not be kept there, or be kept under a different festival's name.
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 that closes Pitru Paksha, on which shraddha is offered to every ancestor, and above all to those whose day of death is not known or who were missed during the fortnight. Gaya, Prayagraj, Haridwar and Nashik fill with families doing the pind daan; in Bengal the Mahalaya dawn broadcast of the Chandi opens the Durga Puja season.
- Deity
- Pitrus, Yama, Durga
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
The hour
The rule in words
The Amavasya tithi at sunrise, with the shraddha offered at aparahna, the afternoon.
The fast
The one who offers it fasts until the rite is over, then eats one plain meal. Food is set out for the crow, the cow, the dog and the guest before anyone eats.
Where the regions differ
The whole country keeps this new moon, under the names Sarva Pitru Amavasya, Mahalaya Amavasya and Mahalaya Amavasai. Kerala's largest bali day is Karkidaka Vavu two months earlier instead.
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.