PARV 17 OF 30 · ASHWIN
पितृ पक्ष
Bhado Purnima to Ashwin Amavasya, fifteen days (September–October)
"पुरखा के तरपन, घाट पर जल"
Katha · The story
When Karna died and reached the other world, he was served gold and jewels but no food. He asked why, and was told: you gave gold all your life but never food to your ancestors. He was sent back for fifteen days to feed them, and those fifteen days became Pitru Paksha. In the village the belief is simpler: the ancestors come to the house in this fortnight, and they must be fed and given water before they go back.
Every morning in Pitru Paksha a few men from each tola are at the ghat on the Budhi Gandak with til and water in their palms, offering tarpan. On the tithi of each departed elder, the Brahman is fed, and the crow, who carries the food to the dead, gets the first plate on the roof.
Mahatva · Significance
It is the fortnight of the ancestors and the pause before the Devi's festivals: no weddings, no new purchases, no beginnings. It ends on Mahalaya Amavasya, when all the ancestors are remembered together and the Durga Puja season begins the next morning.
"काग के भात, पुरखा के परान"
A line everyone at the festival knows
Vidhi · How it is done in Malinagar
Kheer, puri, kaddu, and whatever the departed elder liked best, cooked for the Brahman and the crow.
Families from Malinagar who can, go to Gaya in this fortnight for pind daan at the Vishnupad; those who cannot, do it at the Budhi Gandak and it counts.