Mahalaya Amavasya: tarpanam for all the ancestors
Peddala Amavasya (పెద్దల అమావాస్య), "the new moon of the elders", is Mahalaya Amavasya, the last day of Mahalaya Paksha, the fortnight given to the ancestors.
On this day tarpanam is offered to all the ancestors: to those whose tithi is known and to those whose tithi is not, so that no one of the family line is left out. Families offer sesame and water, give food and clothes to Brahmins and the needy, and feed the crows, and many bathe in the Godavari, the Krishna or the sea.
In Telangana the evening of Peddala Amavasya is Engili Pula Bathukamma, the first day of the nine-day flower festival, and the next morning Sharad Navaratri begins.
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