Amavasya

महत्व · Significance

Amavasya is the new moon, when no lunar disc is visible. It closes the waning fortnight and is traditionally given to the ancestors — to tarpan, to shraddh, and to remembrance.

It is not regarded as an inauspicious day, as is sometimes assumed, but as a still one: a day for what is owed to those who came before rather than for new undertakings.

Somvati Amavasya, when the new moon falls on a Monday, is held to be especially significant and draws pilgrims to river bathing.

पूजा विधि · How it is kept

1. Bathe at sunrise, at a river or tirth if you are able to.
2. Offer tarpan to the ancestors with water and black sesame.
3. Give food to a brahmin, to the poor, or to a cow.
4. Light a lamp under a peepal tree in the evening.
5. Keep the day quiet and sattvic.