In general, every Amavasya is dedicated to our ancestors. However, Amavasya in Ashwini month is considered to be very auspicious. This Amavasya is also known as Sarva Pitra Visarjani Amavasya or Mahalaya Amavasya. According to Shastras, Shraddh offered on this day is received by all ancestors. People who can not offer Shraddh according to the principles mentioned in shastras should perform it on this day to get auspicious results.

The day of ancestors begins from Bhadrapad Shukla Paksha Purnima. This stays till the day of Sarva Pitra Amavasya. People who can not perform Shraddh for fifteen consevutive days or people who do not know the exact date of death of their ancestor should perform Shraddh on this Amavasya. Ancestors expect you to perform this Shraddh on this day and when you don’t, you may suffer from Pitradosha and face a lot of problems.

Maha means a magnificent day and Alaya means home. Hence, Krishna Paksha is considered to be the period of ancestors and therefore, Shraddh is performed to satisfy them. A person suffering from Pitradosha should perform a Shraddh on the day of Sarva Pitra Amavasya.

Shraddh Principles

According to Shastras, some principles should be followed while performing Shraddh. According to these principles, Shraddh should never be performed on someone else’s property or land. A brahmana should offer prayers and worship to satisfy ancestors. The brahmana should be respected. Otherwise, appropriate results are not achieved.

In the beginning, a part of Shraddh is dedicated to fire. After a havan, food is dedicated to ancestors. Shraddh should not come in contact of pork and other prohibited things. Clothes should also be donated during Shraddh. Both hands should be used to pour water during Shraddh. Shraddh should never be performed in night time. Shraddh should also not be performed during dawn or dusk.

Pind Daan in Shraddh

Pind Daan is considered to be very important during Shraddh. Pind Daan is not done for children or Sanyasis. Rice is primarily used for Pind Daan. It is believed that people who have died are in the form of a Pind. Therefore, Pind Daan is performed. Ancestors are satisfied with things offered in Pind Daan. There are many different types of Shraddh including Nitya Shraddh, Kamya Shraddh, Ekodisht Shraddh, Goshta Shraddh etc.

Chaturdashi Shraddh

Shraddh is performed in the dates of Shraddh Paksha. The best type of Shraddh is considered to be the one which is performed on the day when our ancestors left this planet. If a person does not remember the date of death, Amavasya is considered to be an appropriate date. This way, Shraddh can be associated with many blessings from ancestors. Magha Nakshatra gives immense satisfaction to ancestors. Therefore, Shraddh performed during this period is considered to be very auspicious.

Chaturdashi Shraddh is performed to satisfy ancestors during Ashwini month’s Krisna Paksha or Shraddh Paksha’s Chaturdashi. This Shraddh is considered to be very important for people who died in accidents. A person is blessed if he performs Shraddh on this day.