Page:Hindu Feasts Fasts and Ceremonies.djvu/31



MAVASA, or the day of the conjunction of the sun and the moon, occurs once every month and it is a day considered by the Hindus to be specially set apart for the offering of oblations and the performance of religious ceremonies to the Pitris or the spirits of departed ancestors. Such being the general belief, what is the reason for the Hindus paying greater attention to the Mahalaya Amavasa, or the new moon day of the month of Kanya (Tamil Purattasi) when the sun is in the sign Virgo? The Itihasa, a great authority on the religious rites of the Hindus, says that the moment the sun enters the sign Virgo (Kanya) the departed Manes, leaving their abode in the world of Yama, the Destroyer, come down to the world of man and occupy the houses of their descendants in this world or as it is said in Sanskrit, Kanya yate yatha surye pitaras tishtanti sve grihe. ‘Therefore the fortnight preceding the new moon of the month of Kanya