🌑 Amavasya (ancestor tarpan, bath and charity) Puja Vidhi — step by step
This is the household vidhi of the monthly Amavasya — the morning bath and tarpan, charity, peepal worship, the evening lamp; the special customs of Somvati and Shanishchari alongside.
How to do Amavasya (ancestor tarpan, bath and charity) — the steps
- Morning: bathe in the Brahma muhurat/at sunrise (river/tirtha or water with Gangajal and sesame at home); the Sun arghya; sankalp — 'the Amavasya bath, charity and tarpan, for the satisfaction of the ancestors'; many homes keep silence for a few hours (like Mauni).
- Tarpan (the men of the house/a woman if there are none): water, black sesame and kusha in a copper pot, facing south, water to the ancestors over the thumb side — '(gotra) (name) tripyatam' 3 times, father-grandfather-great-grandfather and the mother's side; the sacred thread on the right shoulder (apasavya); the Pitru Sukta/Gita 7; if you do not know the tarpan, just water and sesame towards the south with 'Sarve pitarah tripyantam'.
- The Darsha shraddha (if possible): the offering of pind/kheer-poori in Aparahna/Kutup (time above), the panch-bali (cow-dog-crow-ant-gods), a meal and dakshina for a Brahmin/the daughter and son-in-law; if not possible, kheer-roti for the cow and crow and food for the poor.
- Charity: grain (rice-wheat), sesame, clothes, water vessel, umbrella-footwear (by season), cow fodder; on Shanishchari black sesame-urad-mustard oil-iron-black cloth; on Somvati suhag items and white things; on Bhaumvati jaggery-masoor.
- Peepal and Tulsi: water, milk and sesame for the peepal, a lamp, 108/7 circumambulations (married women 108 times on Somvati winding thread — offering fruit, sweets and coins, the katha); water and a lamp for the Tulsi (plucking Tulsi on Amavasya is forbidden); a Shani temple (Shanishchari) — an oil lamp, 'Om Sham Shanaishcharaya Namah', the Hanuman Chalisa.
- Evening: a sesame-oil lamp in the south at home (for the ancestors), a lamp at the main door, Kali/Durga puja (some traditions — Diwali/Kaushiki Amavasya); the Shiva abhishek (Chandra dosha); a sattvic meal, many homes without salt.
- Vrat: fruit all day/one meal (special on Somvati-Shanishchari); not waterless; the elderly and unwell a normal sattvic meal.
- Women: Somvati Amavasya — the peepal circumambulation vrat (katha below), the long life of husband and children; no tarpan or puja during menstruation (remembrance and charity); a new bride's first Somvati by the custom of her parental/marital home.
Puja samagri checklist
The tarpan items + charity + peepal worship + the weekday specials — the Amavasya list.
- Tarpan: copper pot/thali, water, Gangajal, black sesame, kusha (seat-pavitri), barley, a seat facing south, sacred thread
- Shraddha (if possible): kheer-poori/pind materials (rice-barley-sesame-ghee-honey), 5 leaves (panch-bali), flowers (white), incense-lamp (sesame oil), paan-supari, dakshina
- Charity: grain, sesame, clothes, water vessel, umbrella/blanket, cow fodder; Shanishchari: black sesame-urad-mustard oil-iron-black cloth; Somvati: suhag items, white things; Bhaumvati: jaggery-masoor
- Peepal worship: water-milk-sesame, raw thread (108 circumambulations — Somvati), fruit-sweets-coins, lamp, roli-akshat
- Tulsi lamp, the Shiva abhishek (water-milk-bel leaves), the Shani lamp (oil), the Hanuman Chalisa
- Evening: a sesame-oil lamp (south), the door lamp; Kali/Durga puja (some traditions)
- Food: kheer-poori (for the ancestors), sattvic (without salt — some homes), fruit
- Books: the Pitru Sukta/Gita 7/the Somvati katha/the Shani stotra
Kheer-poori (for the ancestors), sattvic food, sesame-jaggery — the Amavasya kitchen
On Amavasya kheer-poori (or their favourite) for the ancestors — first morsels for the cow, crow and dog, then a Brahmin/the poor, then the family; the meal sattvic — no onion-garlic-meat-liquor, many homes without salt/one meal; sesame-jaggery (Shanishchari), white kheer (Somvati); a plain meal after the Amavasai tarpan in the south.
- Kheer (rice-milk) + poori — the ancestors' bhog; pumpkin/bottle-gourd sabzi, urad dal vadas, kadhi (the shraddha custom)
- The panch-bali morsels: cow-dog-crow (kheer-roti), ant (flour-sugar), gods (ghee); a meal for a Brahmin/the daughter and son-in-law
- Somvati: white things — kheer, milk-rice, mishri; fruit and sweets for the peepal; the vrat paran after the peepal circumambulation
- Shanishchari: sesame-jaggery laddoos, urad khichdi (charity and meal), mustard oil; Bhaumvati: jaggery-gram
- Fasting fare: fruit, milk, sabudana; a saltless meal (some homes) — bottle gourd-curd-kheer
- Regional: Maharashtra (Pola — Bhadrapada Amavasya) puran poli, for the bullocks; Tamil (Amavasai) — vada-payasam after the tarpan; Bengal (Kaushiki/Deepanvita) — the Kali bhog khichuri; Gujarat (Diwali Amas) — sweets; Punjab (Massya) — langar kadhi-rice
Rules — do's and don'ts
✅ Do
- The ancestors' tarpan on every Amavasya (water-sesame, facing south) — if you cannot, just water and sesame and morsels for the cow and crow
- The bath and charity (grain-sesame-clothes-water), water and a lamp for the peepal and Tulsi, a sesame-oil lamp in the south in the evening
- Somvati: the peepal circumambulation (108 threads), the suhag katha; Shanishchari: the Shani lamp and gift of oil, the Hanuman Chalisa
- Sattvic/saltless food, kheer-poori for the ancestors; postpone auspicious beginnings (weddings-journeys)
- If there is pitru dosha, the Amavasya tarpan is the monthly remedy; Gita 7/the Pitru Sukta
❌ Don't
- No plucking Tulsi, cutting hair and nails, oil massage (some customs), no cremation grounds/lonely places after evening on Amavasya (folk belief)
- No meat, liquor or tamasic food, quarrels, lies; no speaking ill of the ancestors; no sending a beggar or guest away empty-handed
- No new beginnings, weddings, engagements or journeys (folk custom — in the scriptures only auspicious sanskaras are forbidden)
- No tarpan facing north/with the left hand; no shraddha at night (not after sunset)
- No superstition — Amavasya is not 'inauspicious', it is the day of the ancestors and gods; do not frighten children
Vrat katha
The katha of Somvati Amavasya (the peepal circumambulation): a washerwoman blessed the youngest of a merchant's seven daughters-in-law 'may you always remain a married woman'; the daughter-in-law asked how — the washerwo… Read the full katha →
Frequently asked questions
When is the next Amavasya? The Amavasya dates of {Y}?
Above are the date of the next Amavasya, the tithi window and shraddha muhurats (Kutup/Aparahna — Delhi) and the next 12 Amavasyas with month names and weekday specials (Somvati/Shanishchari) — by the udaya tithi rule; the tarpan on the day the Amavasya is present in the day (Aparahna) — see the tithi window.
What is Somvati Amavasya and what do women do?
An Amavasya falling on a Monday — 1-3 a year; married women keep a fast and circumambulate the peepal 108 times winding raw thread, offering fruit, sweets and coins, hearing the tale of Sona the washerwoman/the merchant's daughter-in-law, then eat — for the long life of husband and children and unbroken marital fortune; the holy bath (Haridwar-Prayag) bears special fruit; '(Somvati)' is marked in the list above.
What to do on Shanishchari (Shani) Amavasya?
The Saturday Amavasya — the best day for pacifying Saturn: a mustard-oil lamp at a Shani temple/peepal, the gift of black sesame-urad-oil-iron-black cloth (to the poor/sanitation workers), 'Om Sham Shanaishcharaya Namah' 108 times, the Hanuman Chalisa, the Shani stotra (by Dasharatha), the ancestors' tarpan alongside; special for those in sade sati-dhaiya; confirm first with a chart check (sade sati report).
How to do the tarpan without a priest?
Bathe and sit facing south, water and black sesame (and kusha) in a copper pot; releasing water over the thumb side say '(gotra) (father's/grandfather's name) tripyatam' 3 times each, then 'Sarve pitarah tripyantam'; finally kheer-roti for the cow and crow, grain for the poor — this is the simple Darsha tarpan; a woman may do it too (if there is no son); the full vidhi on the Pitru Paksha page.
What should not be done on Amavasya and why?
In the scriptures only auspicious sanskaras (weddings-mundan-housewarming) are forbidden — a moonless tithi, the mind weak; in folk custom new work, journeys and purchases are postponed, Tulsi is not plucked, no meat or liquor, avoid lonely places after evening; but it is the best day for japa, charity, tarpan and meditation — Amavasya is not 'inauspicious'.
Which Amavasyas are the big ones?
Magha — Mauni (the silent bath), Ashwin — Sarva Pitru (Mahalaya), Kartika — Diwali (Lakshmi puja), Shravana — Hariyali (saplings and swings), Jyeshtha — Vat Savitri/Shani Jayanti, Bhadrapada — Kushagrahani/Pithori/Pola, Chaitra — Bhutadi, Phalguna — Phalguni; Somvati-Shanishchari by weekday; all have pages on the hub.
🏠 Amavasya (ancestor tarpan, bath and charity) 2026 — date, muhurat, full page · All vrat & festivals