The death anniversary of a pitriya is called samvatsari, valgo samachari or chhamachhari, when a shrāddha is performed and Brāhmans are feasted.
The pitriyas are also worshipped on auspicious occasions such as marriages, by the performance of a shrāddha called nāndi, when pinds (balls) of molasses are offered instead of rice. It is considered an act of merit to perform shrāddha in honour of the pitriyas on the banks of a river or tank at midday on the 8th day of the dark half of a month.
From the 13th to the 15th day of the dark half of Shrāvan, after their morning ablutions, orthodox people pour water over the Pipal, the Bābul, the Ber (Zizyphus jujube) and durvā grass, and on those places where cows are known to congregate, in the belief that by so doing the thirst of the spirits of the deceased is quenched. It is also believed that if feasts are given to the relatives of the deceased and to Brāhmans the pitriyas are satisfied.
According to some, the Sharādian lasts from the full-moon day of the month of Bhādarvā to the new-moon day of the same month, that is for a period of sixteen days. The Shrāddhas of those who die on the Punema or full-moon day of a month are performed on the full-moon day of Bhādarvā, and the Shrāddhas of those who die on the new-moon day amavasia of a month are performed on the amavasia of Bhādarvā. The 13th day of the dark half of Bhādarvā is called bālā terash that is children’s thirteenth. This day is specially devoted to the propitiation of the spirits of children.[4]
On the Shrāddha days Brāhmans and relatives of the deceased are feasted, and oblations called Vāsh, consisting of rice and sweets, are offered to crows.
On Āsho Vad fourteenth, that is, the fourteenth of the dark half of Āsho, it is customary to apply red lead to the pillars erected in honour of men that die heroic or noble deaths on fields of battle, to break cocoanuts before them, to light lamps fed with ghi and to offer cooked food to their spirits.[5]
The spirits of those who die with strong attachment to the objects of this world are said to enter the state known as asur gati or the path of demons. In this condition the spirit of the deceased possesses the person of one of his relatives and torments the family in which he lived. The members of the family, when worried by his persecutions, engage the services of a bhuvā or exorcist, who sets up a wooden image of the tormenting spirit in a niche in a wall of the house. A lamp fed with ghi is lighted daily before this image, and in times of trouble, a cocoanut is offered to it in the belief that the spirit can protect the offerers from injuries.
The pitriyas or ancestral spirits are propitiated by pouring water over the Bordi (jujube), the Tulsi (sweet basil), the Vad (banyan), the Pipal or durvā grass (cynodon dactylon) on the 13th, 14th and 15th days of the bright half of Chaitra and on the same days of the dark half of Kārtik and Shrāvan. On Vaishākh Shud Trij, that is, on the third of the bright half of Vaishākh, which is called Akhā Trij, women offer to Brāhmans two earthen jars filled with water and covered with an earthen cup containing a betelnut, a pice and a pān or betel leaf, for the propitiation of the spirits of their deceased ancestors.[6]
For the propitiation of a male spirit a party of Brāhmans is feasted, and for the propitiation of a female spirit three unwidowed married women.[7]
Rajputs, Bharvāds, Ahirs and Kolis set up either a pile of stones or a single stone on the boundary of their village in honour of those among them who die on battle fields. These piles or stones are called Pālios. On the Pālios are placed engraved images to represent the deceased in whose memory the Pālios are erected. Small pillars are also raised in the localities where such persons met their death. On the Kāli Chaudas or black fourteenth, that is the fourteenth day of the dark half of Āsho, the Pālios are daubed with red lead and worshipped with offerings of cocoanuts. Women who have become sati receive worship and offerings on the Hindu new year’s day.[8]