“To forget one’s ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree without a root.”
Chinese Proverb
Ancestral rituals in Kurukshetra City
Ancestor worship is one of the many pillars on which many Asian cultures stand tall, Hinduism in particular. Hindu religion prescribes a householder to perform some rituals at certain times in the year. This is to get blessings for a fulfilling life from three generations of the family’s ancestors and to release the ancestral soul of any sufferings it may have incurred.
The thirteen days of mourning, followed by the death of a person, are the principal days for performing ancestral worship. That apart, Hindus do these rituals on new moon days, solar eclipses, and the fifteen-day period before the Durga Puja (Pitru-Paksha). Doing the rituals around rivers and holy water bodies is the norm. Banaras (Kashi), Bodh Gaya, Prayagraj, Rameshwaram, Haridwar, Nashik, Ujjain are some embankments (ghats) where believers go to bring peace to their departed family members.
Importance of Kurukshetra
Kurukshetra, the epicentre of the Mahabharata epic, birthplace of the Bhagavad Gita, and location of the mega war from the epic, is one place of ancestor worship. Within Kurukshetra, the belief is that Lord Vishnu resides in Sannihit Sarovar (lake). Scriptures mention it as a confluence of the seven holy rivers, especially on the days important for ancestral rituals in Kurukshetra city.
A bath in the tank accompanied with Pind Daan (A ritual performed for the dead using balls of cooked rice), donations to the poor and building a memorial in the premises is a practice followed by devout Hindus. Bathing in the waters of the tank on the day of Amavasya (night of complete darkness) or on the day of an eclipse gives blessings equivalent to performing the Ashvamedha Yajna (A ritual performed by victorious kings involving a horse and sacrificial fire).
As a nation that considers Karma as a way of living, a belief system means a lot for fostering continuity with the past generations as well.
Know more about Indian culture on InWords, every first Saturday on ImageWrighter!
Pin the sacred confluence…
