Pitri Puja (Prayers for Deceased Ancestors)
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On the Occasion of Mahalaya Amavasya Wednesday Sept. 16th 4 pm - 6 pm (US East Coast Time) Watch the Puja Live on Facebook |
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Sponsor to Have the Names of Your ancestors included in our Offerings
Donate to have your family included in our prayers. We recommend donating 27$ or 108$, but you may contribute whatever you desire. Please include your name and the name of deceased loved ones to be included in our Sankalpa.
About
The Mahalaya Paksha (the waning moon cycle around August / September each year) is the best time of the year for connecting with the ancestors through prayer. Mahalaya Amavasya, the new moon day during this time is considered particularly auspicious for the pitris (ancestors). Offerings are traditionally made at this time to help the souls of the departed to pass peacefully to the Pitri Loka (the realm of the ancestors). Prayers offered at this time by living descendants help the souls of the pitris in their inner journey between incarnations. Such prayers also help to mitigate unresolved conflicts between relatives and to release the entire family from the burden of family karma. Family karmas are karmas that can effect the entire family, or perhaps just males or females or children or specific people within a family. Conditions which are thought of as genetic in Western medicine are viewed as family karma in the East. Whereas these conditions are generally considered incurable by doctors, the wise Sages of the East have understood that these conditions may be remedied by prayer for the ancestors over time. We are making these offerings during the new moon phase to help the souls departed in their inner journey, for the benefit of the living and the dead. Please donate whatever you are inspired to for the benefit of yourself and your family and we will include the names of your recently deceased relatives and friends in our prayers on Tuesday. Please include the known names of deceased relatives you want us to mention by name (you could also include the names of friends) when you donate. Or you could email names to somamatha@gmail.com. If names are not included with your donation, we will simply pray for you and "all" deceased family members and acquaintances. We will be offering prayers this year throughout the waning moon cycle this month, culminating with puja on the new moon day.
