Pitru Paksha, Spooky Season and Honouring the Dead

By: Shivanie Mangal

Don’t let your hair down, the jumbie (ghost) will hold onto it. Don’t walk after 6pm. Don’t leave the clothes on the line overnight. These were some of the sentiments when I was a girl growing up in the countryside in Guyana. It’s Pitru Paksha season or as my Guyanese household called it  “peetar pak”. It’s our very own spooky season in Guyana and perhaps the wider Hindu-based regions of the Caribbean.  

Pitru Paksha or Pitri Paksha (a fortnight of the ancestors) is a specified season in the Hindu  calendar where our departed loved ones and souls return to walk the earth. Officially it is a season where Hindus pay respect to their departed loved ones. It is a way of offering respect and honouring their lives. It lasts for about sixteen days. This precedes the religious observance of Navrati or Navaratri—an annual nine night celebration of fasting and prayers in honour of goddess Durga (the supreme mother of the universe that battles evil). This is quite fitting come to think of it, Navrati being celebrated after ghosts have returned to walk the earth. If you ask me, Navrati seems to ensure that they return to their place of eternal rest and the earth is then cleansed again for another year. In 2025, Pitru Paksha will be celebrated from Sunday September 7th-Sunday September 21^st. 

The Pitru Paksha period is known as Shraad, and it falls in the Chaturmaas period, as per the Hindu calendar. Shraad/Shraddha (shr-A-dh) translates to food offering and is one of the integral parts of the rituals. It is considered inauspicious to carry out any rituals such as housewarming, engagement, marriage etc. during Pitru Paksha. Instead, Hindus use this time to remember and reflect departed loved ones. The scriptures state that this is the period when souls of the departed wander around the world in search of liberation. Hence, in order to make sure that these souls find peace and bless those who are still alive, Hindus perform the rituals associated with this festival. It is a way of repaying our dues to our ancestors who are no longer among us. While this is a season  that is heavily practiced in India, the way we observed it in Guyana was different. For some, it  sounds like a season where you pray to the dead. As an adult, I can definitely appreciate this ritual. If you’ve ever grieved a loved one, you would know that anything to help them in the afterlife gives comfort and brings peace. 

As a child, this season was revered for me. You would always want to listen to the elders and their advice during this period. The practice of not letting the hair down, for example, may have been associated with it getting dark at 6:00pm in the Caribbean and the old adage of ghosts walking at nights. Likewise, personal items left on a clothes line outside at nights. My memories around this time goes something like this: you wake up at dawn and take a shower where the hair was washed.  There is a period of fasting that occurs where no food or water is taken before a pooja (prayer) is done. The pooja is done facing the south. Why the south? It is believed that the Hindu god of death and justice resides in the south. Yamraj or Yama overseas the resting place of the dead. You fill a lota (a round polished brass pot) with water and include some black til (black sesame seeds). I have also heard that the names of the dead given from the Patra (Hindu astronomical calendar) are called when you make the offering to the departed loved one. It is to say that this specific offering is for said individual to help them in the afterlife. I was taught that this ritual is important for our  departed loved ones.

I am not sure where it came from and why black til is used in this ritual in Guyana. I can akin it to black representing death. Also, pooja is typically done with beautiful coloured flowers and there are generally no black flowers in Guyana. I often saw my mom crying during this period. Now as an adult, I understand why. There are also specific mantras that can be played during this time to invoke the invitation of devotions to Yamraj. I have also observed that nine leaves being placed on the earth facing the south. I believe that the number nine is significant in Hinduism representing the nine manifestations of God. The offerings entailed cooked rice and black til made into round balls. These round balls are placed on each of the nine leaves. Further to this, when someone dies

In an Indo-Caribbean household, black til and water is offered to the south as well. This is done in the period of the thirteen days after the funeral has taken place. Overall, I can see the connection between these two rituals.  

For me, it is significant that Pitru Paksha is observed so close to Halloween. Sometimes, Pitru Paksha is observed in October and has coincided with Halloween and even sometimes in November before Diwali (the festival of lights). Generally, though, it is observed in the Fall season between September to October each year. I also know that if a loved one passes away during the Pitru Paksha season, it is seen as an omen and the rituals and practices for the funeral are different.  

There are other traditions and observances in other cultures and countries around the world that are linked to honouring the dead in some form. For starters, Pitru Paksha is celebrated in India. When you dive into the history of Halloween in Ireland and Scotland, it has origins in praying for recently departed souls who are yet to reach heaven. In England, many moons ago, there was the tradition called Souling where the poor would beg for pastries on November 2 (All Souls Day) in exchange for prayers for deceased relative. Further to this, the date of Halloween has some links to the ancient Roman festival of the dead. Then there is the vibrant festival of Día de los  Muertos or Day of the Dead in Mexico. It honours deceased loved ones with colourful festivals, altars and offerings. Similarly, there is also a Buddhist festival called Obon sometimes referred to  as ‘Japanese Day of the Dead”. Obon commemorates the spirits of ancestors. In Cambodia, there is Pchum Ben which also lasts for fifteen days (similar to Pitru Paksha).This observance is known as Ancestors Day or Festival of the Dead. Cambodians gather at pagodas to remember ancestors whose spirits come back in search of living relatives, hoping to atone for sins from their past life. 

Across countries and cultures, there seems to be some tradition that remembers to respect and honour the dead. These observances all seem to coincide over the fall season/later in the year aka spooky season. It’s interesting to make the connection between Pitru Paksha and all these other cultural traditions. How wonderful it is for my Caribbean heritage to have such an observance and  deep respect for the dead. We make sure to never forget our loved ones despite their physical presence absent from the earthly world. And this is why I believe I am so blessed to be born into such a culture that teaches me the value of rituals that can honour souls whom I have never met. 

As a child, I listened to my Guyanese elders when they told me not to wear my hair down past 6:00pm and just maybe, maybe, I will do the same as an adult this upcoming spooky season.