TARPANA

"Where Belief Overpowers Situation"

Every year on the day of Mahalaya(a ritual which depicts the beginning of Durga Puja), thousands of people visit the river Ganges(around 4 am) to worship their ancestors, where they offer their Pitr(deceased ancestors) with water and sesame seed. It is a Vedic practice and is termed Tilatarpana. It marks the end of Pitru Paksha(Father's reign) and the starting of Devi Paksha(Mother's reign). It may also be sometimes referred to as Arghya(or the offering made).

The main belief behind this entire ritual (i.e., the custom/belief passed on from generation after generation) is that - On this day, our ancestors are waiting for us to offer Arghya and in return, we will get the divine blessings from them. One Tarpana is offered for the delivery of ten Moolmantras/Japa(main keynote). It is mainly offered by the male of the family, but nowadays it has no biasness, i.e. even the women of the family can evenly participate in it. It is mandatory to perform the ritual in the first Shraddha(death anniversary) of the deceased but in the later years, it is completely upon the family whether he/she will be performing it or not. There are certain methods that are followed while doing this ritual- like the use of black Til seeds(Gingili) is essential along with a Pavitra(holy) ring that should be made with grass and worn on the ring finger. Sometimes even the Yagnopavita(Sacred Thread) worn by Brahmins are had to be worn in the opposing direction i.e. the right side, but depends upon the person as they are now not engaging themselves with these petty things. But the entire act is incomplete if it is not done with Kosha-Kushi (double spoon made of copper) as the offering is made by this. This is the most essential element of the entire Tarpana and cannot be overlooked; according to mythology, it represents the yoni and womb of the Goddess, as well as the astral body within the physical body and the microcosm within the macrocosm.

The main reason to cover this story is the difference that the COVID pandemic has made this time. The people have followed the norms of using sanitizers and masks and have prayed for their ancestors. I was awestruck to see so many people even during the epidemic; who came to worship their ancestors. It shows that human belief is much more influential than the situation going on, and their conviction is much more powerful than this virus. The series depicts the entire ritual but in a tangent way i.e. how it opposed the usual times.

With this day of Mahalaya, other than only Tarpana many other emotions are also attached among various people, slightly more on Bengalis (including me being one of them), as it tends to mark the start of Durga Puja from this day. I prefer not to include in this here but to add that in some other blog. Ending with the note Subho Sarodiya/ Happy Durga Puja to all!!!