Amavasya and Pitra tharpanam
The 'no moon' or 'new moon' day is referred to amavasya. When amavasya falls in the month of Aadi it is Aadi Amavasya. This month aadi amavasya falls on 23rd July. In the month of Aadi the planet sun is in the Kataka raasi or zodiac sign of Cancer. Moon is the lord of the Kataka raasi . Amavasai is the day when the Sun and the Moon rise and fall at the same time. Aadi month is the fourth month in the Tamil calendar and this year aadi month its between July 17th to August 16th 2017. As amavasya falls on 23rd in the aadi month, it is normally referred as Aadi amavasya.
Aadi amavasya is believed to be a day to connect to the departed souls of ancestors and seek their blessings. According to Upanishads departed souls cross higher planes from Pitraloka to Chandra loka depending on their deeds in their past lives also known as Karma in spiritual terms. Such rituals performed on aadi amavasya eases the cross over for the departed souls helping them relieve their karma. One can easily aid them in crossing those higher planes by performing ritualistic penance. During such a process they become a family deity and is believed that their blessings bring tremendous improvement to one's well-being.
On aadi amavasya day it is for this purpose that people go to the banks of sacred rivers like Cavery, Rameshwaram and perform tharpanam (ritualistic penance) to liberate the departed souls off their karmas and thus invoke their blessings. Fasting or eating a single meal on that day is also observed by few people in order to properly conduct the rituals.
Spiritual significance
Just as we have biological lineage or the DNA as we call, we also have so called spirit DNA. If the departed soul happens to be our closet relation such as parents or siblings, then despite their absence on earth we still live through them. Their emotions and thoughts live through us. So in a way we live through ancestors and this adds up to our karma as well. Such Tharpanams performed on aadi amavasya help liberate the departed soul and also us from the earthy attachments. If one is conscious then amavasya can also be beneficial in spiritual growth and aid in self realisation to embark a journey from the untruth to the truth. Tharpanam is meant for spiritual elevation of the departed soul and in turn improving our quality of life while our stay on earth. According to Puranas and Upanishads its only after several million births being born as an insect, bugs, mammals and so on we get the human form. Hence it is absolutely essential for us to consider this as the finest form of birth and should make every use of this birth to realise our true self. Such Tharpanams helps us realise that each one of us have our own spiritual journey, it is thus important to cast off the ego and earthly attachments and desires and succeed in moving on to higher spiritual planes and in the process also help the departed souls enhance their spiritual journey.
With this philosophical note we at GFD pray that each of you get the divine opportunity to perform ritualistic penance to your departed ancestors on this aadi amavasya.
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