Amavasya
Encyclopedia
Amavasya is the India
n name for a New moon
. The word Amavasya is common to many Indian languages especially Sanskrit
, Hindi
, Assamese
, Kannada, Bengali
, Konkani
, Marathi
, Oriya
, Telugu
, and Gujarati
. In Tamil
, though amavasya is commonly used in religious spheres, the pure Tamil scholars prefer the term "puthuppiRai"
There is a natural upsurge of energies in the human body on these days. As a result, in the tradition, Amavasya (New Moon) and Pournami (Full Moon) days are held as special days for the spiritual seeker. Any sadhana
performed on these days has a greater impact on the system. As the Amavasya vibrations are especially conducive for men and similarly, as the Pournami vibrations are particularly conducive for women.
Every month, the new-moon day is considered auspicious for the worship of forefathers and poojas are made. However, no travel ought to be scheduled the first day of the new moon. Religious people are supposed to not work and concentrate on the rites function on Amavasyas. Even today traditional workers like masons do not work on Amavasyas in India. However they will work on Saturdays and Sundays. Amavasya was traditionally monthly off day. The Amavasya function is usually done in the afternoon at home (hence travel and daily work are postponed). Even High Court judges of 18th century in India used to observe Amavasya as off day. It was the British Rule that brought Sunday off principle to Indian industry.
On Amavasyas Shraadh is done to forefathers by Brahmins whose father has died earlier. Nowadays a short 20 minute version of the ceremony is done—offering black sesame and water as oblation to departed souls. This oblation is offered to father, grand father and great grand father - 3 levels. Then to mother, grandmother and great grandmother—3 levels. Similarly this is done to mother's side of the family also. If one of these persons are still alive, their name is skipped and the corresponding earlier generation person is offered oblation. Then a final oblation is offered to those anonymous souls which passed away and have nobody in their lineage offering oblation. These oblations are believed to give birth to good children without mental or physical challenges (so say the prayers in this function).
The dark fortnight of Aswayuja (September–October) is known as the Pitru Paksha
(Mahalaya) or the fortnight specially sacred for offering oblation
s to the departed ancestors. The last day of this period, the new moon
day,called as mahalaya amavasya is considered as the most important day in the year for performing obsequies and rites. The manes return to their abode on the evening of Deepavali. Due to the grace of the Yama
, it has been ordained that offerings made during this period benefit all the departed souls, whether they are connected to you or not.
Daytime is divided into 5 equal parts as follows (assuming sunrise at 6 a.m. and sunset at 6 p.m.) :
(1) Praatha 06:00 to 08:24
(2) Sanghava 08:25 to 10:48
(3) Maadhyaanha 10:49 to 13:12
(4) Aparaanha 13:13 to 15:36
(5) Saayankaal 15:37 to 18:00
Shraadh is to be done in Aparaanha kaal. But the 30 food items preparation might start as early as 5:00 a.m. By the time the function finishes it would be 3:00 p.m. It is a tiring 10 hours continuous work for both husband and wife. But nowadays only a short cut 20 minute offering of oblation is done on Amavasya. Due to pressure of time in fast paced lives of cities, this function is done in (wrong time) Praatha kaal.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n name for a New moon
New moon
In astronomical terminology, the new moon is the lunar phase that occurs when the Moon, in its monthly orbital motion around Earth, lies between Earth and the Sun, and is therefore in conjunction with the Sun as seen from Earth...
. The word Amavasya is common to many Indian languages especially Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
, Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
, Assamese
Assamese language
Assamese is the easternmost Indo-Aryan language. It is used mainly in the state of Assam in North-East India. It is also the official language of Assam. It is also spoken in parts of Arunachal Pradesh and other northeast Indian states. Nagamese, an Assamese-based Creole language is widely used in...
, Kannada, Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
, Konkani
Konkani language
KonkaniKonkani is a name given to a group of several cognate dialects spoken along the narrow strip of land called Konkan, on the west coast of India. This is, however, somewhat an over-generalisation. Geographically, Konkan is defined roughly as the area between the river Damanganga to the north...
, Marathi
Marathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
, Oriya
Oriya language
Oriya , officially Odia from November, 2011, is an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family. It is mainly spoken in the Indian states of Orissa and West Bengal...
, Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
, and Gujarati
Gujarati language
Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...
. In Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
, though amavasya is commonly used in religious spheres, the pure Tamil scholars prefer the term "puthuppiRai"
There is a natural upsurge of energies in the human body on these days. As a result, in the tradition, Amavasya (New Moon) and Pournami (Full Moon) days are held as special days for the spiritual seeker. Any sadhana
Sadhana
Sādhanā literally "a means of accomplishing something" is ego-transcending spiritual practice. It includes a variety of disciplines in Hindu, Sikh , Buddhist and Muslim traditions that are followed in order to achieve various spiritual or ritual objectives.The historian N...
performed on these days has a greater impact on the system. As the Amavasya vibrations are especially conducive for men and similarly, as the Pournami vibrations are particularly conducive for women.
Every month, the new-moon day is considered auspicious for the worship of forefathers and poojas are made. However, no travel ought to be scheduled the first day of the new moon. Religious people are supposed to not work and concentrate on the rites function on Amavasyas. Even today traditional workers like masons do not work on Amavasyas in India. However they will work on Saturdays and Sundays. Amavasya was traditionally monthly off day. The Amavasya function is usually done in the afternoon at home (hence travel and daily work are postponed). Even High Court judges of 18th century in India used to observe Amavasya as off day. It was the British Rule that brought Sunday off principle to Indian industry.
On Amavasyas Shraadh is done to forefathers by Brahmins whose father has died earlier. Nowadays a short 20 minute version of the ceremony is done—offering black sesame and water as oblation to departed souls. This oblation is offered to father, grand father and great grand father - 3 levels. Then to mother, grandmother and great grandmother—3 levels. Similarly this is done to mother's side of the family also. If one of these persons are still alive, their name is skipped and the corresponding earlier generation person is offered oblation. Then a final oblation is offered to those anonymous souls which passed away and have nobody in their lineage offering oblation. These oblations are believed to give birth to good children without mental or physical challenges (so say the prayers in this function).
The dark fortnight of Aswayuja (September–October) is known as the Pitru Paksha
Pitru Paksha
Pitru Paksha , also spelt as Pitr paksha or Pitri paksha, is a 16–lunar day period when Hindus pay homage to their ancestors , especially through food offerings...
(Mahalaya) or the fortnight specially sacred for offering oblation
Oblation
Oblation, an offering , a term, particularly in ecclesiastical usage, for a solemn offering or presentation to God.-Bible usage:...
s to the departed ancestors. The last day of this period, the new moon
New moon
In astronomical terminology, the new moon is the lunar phase that occurs when the Moon, in its monthly orbital motion around Earth, lies between Earth and the Sun, and is therefore in conjunction with the Sun as seen from Earth...
day,called as mahalaya amavasya is considered as the most important day in the year for performing obsequies and rites. The manes return to their abode on the evening of Deepavali. Due to the grace of the Yama
Yama (Hinduism)
Yama is the lord of death in Hinduism, first recorded in the Vedas. Yama belongs to an early stratum of Indo-Iranian theology. In Vedic tradition Yama was considered to have been the first mortal who died and espied the way to the celestial abodes, thus in virtue of precedence he became the ruler...
, it has been ordained that offerings made during this period benefit all the departed souls, whether they are connected to you or not.
Shraadh time
In India a full day is from one sunrise to next sunrise. A dinmaan (daytime) is from sunrise to sunset. A raatmaan (nighttime) is from sunset to next sunrise.Daytime is divided into 5 equal parts as follows (assuming sunrise at 6 a.m. and sunset at 6 p.m.) :
(1) Praatha 06:00 to 08:24
(2) Sanghava 08:25 to 10:48
(3) Maadhyaanha 10:49 to 13:12
(4) Aparaanha 13:13 to 15:36
(5) Saayankaal 15:37 to 18:00
Shraadh is to be done in Aparaanha kaal. But the 30 food items preparation might start as early as 5:00 a.m. By the time the function finishes it would be 3:00 p.m. It is a tiring 10 hours continuous work for both husband and wife. But nowadays only a short cut 20 minute offering of oblation is done on Amavasya. Due to pressure of time in fast paced lives of cities, this function is done in (wrong time) Praatha kaal.