Overview

• The fortnight begins Sunday and ends on Sept. 21 with Sarvapitri Amavasya, the most significant day for offerings to all ancestors.
• Core observances include Shradh and Tarpan with a purification bath, simple food offerings to Brahmins, and charitable acts such as feeding the poor and animals.
• Many households follow satvik diets by avoiding non‑vegetarian food, onion, garlic, alcohol and other intoxicants, with additional practices like skipping grains on ritual days or postponing grooming in some traditions.
• The period is widely regarded as inauspicious for new beginnings, with guidance to defer weddings, property purchases and business launches until after the fortnight.
• This year’s dates align with a lunar eclipse on Sept. 7 and a solar eclipse on Sept. 21, a pairing some sources describe as spiritually potent, alongside regional practices such as Gaya pilgrimages and Bengal’s Mahalaya observances.