Tarpaṇa

Tarpaṇa means “satisfying”. Water mixed with black sesame (tila) is offered from the hands, often over kuśa grass, while naming the ancestors. Traditionally separate offerings are made to the gods, the sages and the ancestors, and the sacred thread, for those who wear it, is shifted to the right shoulder for the ancestors.

It can be done at a river, at home in a vessel, or simply with a prayer. Many people do it on every new-moon day (amāvasyā).

Water + black sesame

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