Pitru Paksha

Pitru Paksha is the death rite performed during the ceremony, known as Shraddha or tarpan. It falls in the Hindu lunar month of Bhadrapada (September–October), beginning with the full moon day (Purnima) that occurs immediately after the Ganesh festival and ending with the new moon day known as Sarvapitri amavasya, Mahalaya amavasya or simply Mahalaya. Pitru Paksha is compose of the fifteen days of Malaya Paksha consists of 15 Tithi (also called Thithi) and they are Pratipat, Dvitiya, Tritiya, Chaturthi, Panchami, Shashti, Saptami, Ashtami, Navami, Dasami, Ekadasi, Dvadasi, Trayodasi, Chaturdashi, Amavasya (new moon).

The tradition of 'Pitru-paksha' as mention above is nowhere mentioned in the Puranas. It was Chanakya who is believed to bring in the concept when he observed that many officials were taking leave for 'Shraddh'. Some would take leaves two to three times a year to perform 'Shraddh'. Since banning the ritual would invite wrath from society, he suggested that fifteen days in the month of Bhadrapada as 'Pitrupaksha'. He also suggested 'Sarvapitri Amavashya', the last day of this period for the same rituals to be performed if one missed doing so in this period. It was a solution that Chanakya devised to reduce the percentage of non-working hours in Government,while still managing not to hurt social feelings.

Reference: The Times Of India Pune; Date:2009 Sep 05; Section:Property; Page Number: 13