Shradh Paksha 2025: Step-by-Step 16-Day Guide to Pitru Tarpan, Pind Daan & Ancestral Blessings

Shradh Paksha 2025 — A warm, step-by-step 16-day guide to Pitru Tarpan, Pind Daan, timings, and puja-vidhi. Practical rituals, Sanskrit mantras, and soulful tips for ancestral peace.

Pitru Paksha is a tender pause — sixteen lunar days when Hindu families stop, remember, and lovingly serve the ancestors who shaped their lives. 

Pitru Paksha (also Shradh Paksha / Mahalaya) is the ancestral fortnight in which Shradh (ritual homage), Tarpan (water offerings), and Pind Daan (rice balls) are performed so the Pitris (forebears) may find peace (moksha) and bless their descendants. It is not a time for celebration — new marriages and big undertakings are traditionally avoided — but a time for humility, repair, and gratitude.

In 2025, Pitru Paksha began from 7 September and ends on 21 September. The most important day is Sarvapitri Amavasya / Mahalaya Amavasya (the new-moon day) when collective Shradh is performed if specific tithis were missed.

Day-by-Day Shradh Paksha 2025 Guide

Below is a compassionate, practical note for each day. On each day: do Sankalpa (declare intent), perform Tarpan, offer Pindas (one or more), feed someone needy or a Brahmin if possible, and keep food sattvic.

Day 1 – Pratipada Shradh (7 Sept 2025)

The first day begins the ancestral fortnight. It is dedicated to those who passed away on Pratipada tithi. Families usually start with a Sankalpa (intention), offering water with sesame seeds, and a small pinda (rice ball). Starting Shradh on this day sets a sacred rhythm for the fortnight.

Day 2 – Dwitiya Shradh (8 Sept 2025)

This day is for ancestors who died on Dwitiya. A simple ritual is to prepare sattvic food (without onion, garlic, or meat) and offer it symbolically before sharing it with the needy, crows, or cows. It teaches us that feeding others is the highest way to honour the past.

Day 3 – Tritiya Shradh (9 Sept 2025)

On this day, rice mixed with curd or jaggery is offered. Families pray for mental clarity and peace in the lineage. Many also recite the Gayatri mantra or read a short prayer from Garuda Purana.

Day 4 – Chaturthi Shradh (10 Sept 2025)

Chaturthi Shradh is often observed with offerings of urad dal and jaggery. Charity on this day is highly recommended — giving grains, food packets, or even fruits to the poor helps ease ancestral debts.

Day 5 – Panchami Shradh (11 Sept 2025)

This day has a gentle focus on children and the younger lineage. Offerings like milk, banana, and kheer are made, praying for both the peace of departed souls and the wellbeing of children in the family.

Day 6 – Shashthi Shradh (12 Sept 2025)

Shashthi is considered significant for extended generations, going back to the sixth line of ancestry. Performing a longer tarpan with sesame water and feeding stray animals is believed to invite prosperity into the home.

Day 7 – Saptami Shradh (13 Sept 2025)

This day is special for praying for mental peace of the ancestors. Lighting a ghee lamp and reciting shlokas from the Shanti Path (peace invocation) can help ease ancestral unrest.

Day 8 – Ashtami Shradh (14 Sept 2025)

Offerings of barley and sesame are made today. Lighting a diya and keeping it near the Tulsi plant is a common tradition. It is believed that on this day, ancestors bless the family with strength and resilience.

Day 9 – Navami Shradh (15 Sept 2025)

This day is especially important for female ancestors — mothers, grandmothers, sisters. A sattvic sweet dish like kheer or halwa is offered in their memory. It is also a day to pray for family harmony.

Day 10 – Dashami Shradh (16 Sept 2025)

On Dashami, feeding cows is considered extremely auspicious. Offerings of rice balls mixed with ghee and sesame seeds are made, with prayers for stability in livelihood and family bonds.

Day 11 – Ekadashi Shradh (17 Sept 2025)

Since Ekadashi itself is a sacred fasting day, Shradh performed here is done with extra care and simplicity. Devotees may chant Mahamrityunjaya mantra for healing and pray for liberation of departed souls.

Day 12 – Dwadashi Shradh (18 Sept 2025)

Offerings of seasonal fruits and water are made on this day. Families pray for the moksha (liberation) of their Pitris and perform charity, especially donating clothes or food grains

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Day 13 – Trayodashi Shradh (19 Sept 2025)

Pindas mixed with Tulsi leaves are offered today. This day is believed to provide protection to the family from unexpected obstacles and troubles.

Day 14 – Chaturdashi Shradh (20 Sept 2025)

This day is devoted to those who passed away untimely or unnatural deaths. Special tarpan with kusha grass and water is offered. Prayers on this day are believed to bring peace to wandering souls.

Day 15 – Amavasya / Sarvapitri Shradh (20–21 Sept 2025)

This is the grand conclusion of Pitru Paksha. If a family missed any earlier tithi, Shradh can be performed today for all ancestors together. Many visit holy rivers for Pind Daan, offer large tarpan rituals, and perform dana (charity). It is a deeply moving day of collective remembrance.

Day 16 – Pitru Visarjan (21 Sept 2025)

The final offering — a symbolic farewell. A diya is lit, prayers are whispered, and gratitude is expressed. Families often resolve to remember their ancestors in daily life, not only during Pitru Paksha.

 Through these sixteen days, the heart of Shradh is simple: gratitude, food offerings, water, and remembrance. The form may vary, but the love is the same.

Puja Vidhi (Step-by-step Shradh & Tarpan ritual)

1. Preparation & Purity: Wake early, take a bath (add Gangajal if available), wear clean simple clothes (white or light yellow). Set a small altar with a photo or the name of an ancestor, a little clay pot, and offerings.

2. Sankalpa: Sit facing south. Fold hands and state: “I perform Shradh for — (name/lineage). May their soul be peaceful.”

3. Puja Invocation: Light a ghee lamp and offer incense. Chant a short prayer (Gayatri or any family mantra).

4. Tarpan: Mix water with black sesame seeds (til) and a pinch of barley. Take water in right hand, offer in small amounts saying the ancestor’s name and “Svāhā / Tarpayāmi.”

5. Pind Daan: Make 1–5 pindas of cooked rice mixed with sesame and ghee; place on banana leaf or plate. Offer each pind with a short prayer and a pinch of rice into the sacred fire or into flowing water if doing river ritual.

6. Feeding & Dana: Serve the offered food to a Brahmin, the needy, or distribute prasadam. Feeding animals (crows, cows, dogs) at the boundary is auspicious.

7. Shanti Path & Closing: Recite a few rounds of Mahamrityunjaya or Gayatri, perform arghya (water offering), and conclude with “Om Shanti” thrice. Donate money or grains as final charity.

   

ॐ पितृभ्यो नमः । स्वधायै नमः ।

ॐ त्र्यम्बकं यजामहे सुगन्धिं पुष्टिवर्धनम् ।

उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनान्मृत्योर्मुक्षीय माऽमृतात् ॥

“I bow to my Pitris. May they be soothed and freed; may they attain peace and liberation.”

(The above lines are offered here to center the ritual — chant with devotion, not mechanically.)

Manner of tribute — respect, love and simple devotion

Tribute to ancestors is less about perfect form and more about heartfelt intent. Speak their names, tell their stories to children, offer a plate of food with folded hands, and do a small daily ritual during Pitru Paksha even if time is limited. Teach younger generations to ask: Who made our courage? Who taught us patience? — and then serve a small offering in that person’s name. These acts turn ritual into living memory and blessing.

Closing: Ancestral peace, blessings and a gentle invitation

Pitru Paksha is a practice in humility: we repay a debt we can never fully measure. When done with sincerity — simple offerings, honest intent, and acts of charity — the rituals bring peace to departed souls and quiet blessing to our homes. Begin each day with gratitude, end it with a small prayer, and let the ancestor’s love quietly flow into each choice you make.

“पितृ देवो भव