Sixteen Shraddhas starting today

Kathmandu. Sixteen Shraddhas or Pitru Paksha, which starts every year from Ashwin Krishna Pratipada, is being duly started from today. It has been mentioned in the Calendar Panchang approved by the Nepal Almanac Judging Development Committee that Pratipada Tithi should be performed on the first day of the beginning. Prof. Dr. Devmani Bhattarai, a former member of the committee and a theologian, informed the government that the donation of Pratipada Tithi Shraddha should be done in the afternoon.

On the sixteen dates from Ashwin Krishna Pratipada to Ashwin Shukla Pratipada, Tarpan, Sidadan and Pindadan are offered with respect to the departed ancestors, so it is called Sohrashraddha. This time is also known as Apar, Pret Paksha etc.

According to the Vedic Sanatan Hindu classical tradition, sixteen prayers are performed before the festival Yajnayagadi and big work. It is classically believed that at this time the fathers are sitting in hope.

It is religiously believed that performing sixteen Shraddhas in this way fulfills one's sense of responsibility towards one's father and also frees one from father's debt. Prof. Dr. Ramchandra Gautam, a theologian and former chairman of the committee, says that not doing Shraddha in this aspect is an unforgivable sin. He also said that there is a scriptural saying that sixteen Shraddha should be done in the afternoon. According to the theologian Gautam, one should not skip the sixteen Shraddhas except in the case of Jatashauch, dead defecation and the wife is menstruating.