Hinduism - What Is Tarpana?

 


(“satisfying”) Tarpana is a ceremony of remembrance in which one delivers libations of water to one's ancestors in order to satisfy their thirst.

Tarpana fulfills one of the Five Great Sacrifices, "sacrifice to the ancestors." These five sacrifices are obligatory daily religious observances (nitya karma) for a "twice-born" house holder, that is, a householder who was born into one of India's three "twice born" groups—brahmin, kshatriya, or vaishya—and received the adolescent religious initiation known as the second birth.

Tarpana may also be a one-time religious deed (naimittika karma) that should be done while bathing (snana) at pilgrimage sites (tirthas).

The ritual itself is pretty straightforward.

The performer first bathes in order to become ritually pure, then scoops water into his joined hands and tips his fingers forward to drain the water.

According to some texts, the water should also be mixed with sesame seeds, a component linked with funeral gifts.

Tarpana was regarded a companion ritual to the memorial service known as shraddha, albeit tarpana was done considerably more often as a required daily deed.

One symbolically feeds one's ancestors to satisfy their hunger in the shraddha ceremony, while one gives them water to relieve their thirst in the tarpana rite.

~Kiran Atma


You may also want to read more about Hinduism here.

Be sure to check out my writings on religion here.