As we all know if we lose the person whom we love a lot and it is very difficult to accept their death or to believe that the person is no more. Sometime after death also we feel their presence just because we are connected to them through the love and affection we still have for them. Our unconditional love for them doesn’t let them rest in peace. Yes, it is true. But it is not correct because due to it many people can face problems because they are not the element of this world now after death. They have to leave this world. Sometimes we have seen such cases where we observe paranormal activity.
Because rather they died before their destiny had planned or some mis-happenings were held with them or normal death. All of these souls didn’t achieve peace and they are in search of peace and unable to get detached from this world. For them some rituals are done in Pitru Paksha that helps their soul to rest in peace.
The word Pitru means ancestors and Paksha means fortnight. It lies in the Bhadrapada months in Krishna paksha according to hindu calendar and it continues for 15 days before Navratri gets started. It comes in the month of September or October. According to Indian culture it is believed that the family members who are no more were still alive in some other world. And after descending from earth we perform these rituals that help them to rest in peace and get freedom from this world.
Have you ever lit a diya in memory of the loved one you had lost and while doing that had felt their presence around you? That moment is more than nostalgia. Remembering our ancestors is not only a tradition of India but it is a love and gratitude for them. It shows our spiritual connection with them. And the duration of Pitru Paksha is more powerful for such types of rituals. Offering food, charity on their behalf and many other ways at this time is believed to reach the ancestors directly to reach prosperity in their afterlife. These offerings are known as “Pind Daan” and it is done by the eldest son of the family. This pind daan satisfied their soul and they always kept their blessings in their family. And these pind daan is not only done in this period, in fact people used to offer food to their ancestors on every Amavasya according to hindu calendar.
In our home it is said by our grandparents that the pind daan during pitru paksh acts as a food for the ancestors for the whole year.
There are many stories related to our ancestors, it is believed since ancient times. One of the stories is related to “Mahabharata”. As we all know ‘Karna’ the son of Kunti (mother of panch pandavas) and Karna is gifted by Lord Sun for her devotion to him. It is said that after death Karna is sent to Swarga. He is offered gold and gemstone to eat instead of food. Karna was in doubt why they are offering these items as food. He went to Lord Indra and asked the reason for all of the incident. Indra dev answered that before death he had donated gold stones to needy persons but never offered food to his ancestors. So how he could be offered food. It is true that karma returns what we will do in our lifetime; everything will come back to us in the same way. Karna realised his mistakes and requested Indra dev to send him back to the earth for 15 days to perform the ritual of shradha. These 15 days are known as “Pitru Paksha”. It shows the importance of offering food to the departed soul.
Pitru paksha that are passed from generation to generation and these rituals are symbolic expression of gratitude and responsibilities toward our ancestors:
These are some of the rituals that are performed during this period. As our country is a home of different religions. There are different rules and ways of performing these rituals for the ancestors.