Shashthi Shraddha 2026 Date

About Shashthi Shraddha

This day is observed for ancestors who died on a Shashthi tithi, the sixth day of either lunar fortnight. It carries the fortnight's general rule and no additional tradition of its own — the family's obligation is the same remembrance performed on every other day of Pitru Paksha.

On Shashthi Shraddha, as through the fortnight, the karta bathes, wears a ring of darbha grass, and sits facing south to offer tarpan of water mixed with black sesame to the ancestors. Pind daan follows — balls of cooked rice and barley placed with sesame and flowers — and the rite closes with a meal served to invited brahmins, who are treated as representing the departed themselves. Where the name and date of death are known, the ancestor is invoked directly by lineage; the eldest son of the family ordinarily conducts the ceremony.