Mahālaya
event · 2 works · 3 mentions · 8 anchored passages
Mahālaya-trayodaśī śrāddha · fortnightly mahālaya · mahālaya · sakṛnmahālaya · the dark fortnight when the sun is in Virgo · the sixteen days
in the texts
Vīramitrodaya
The dark fortnight of Bhādra dedicated to ancestor rites, treated as a distinct śrāddha occasion with detailed sub-rules.
Here, the Trayodaśī, Mahālaya, and Maghā *śrāddhas* are performed together (*tantra*);
The Mahālaya-trayodaśī *śrāddha* is not different from the Yugādi *śrāddha*, because it is presented as being inseparably connected with the Yugādi, say some.
The secondary time (*gauṇakāla*) for not performing the *śrāddha* in Mahālaya is stated in the *Hemādri*—
Āṅgirasa Smṛti
A fortnight-long ancestral rite period beginning after the full moon of Āṣāḍha, with variant procedures and special merit on certain days.
Taking the full moon of Āṣāḍha as the starting point, the fifth fortnight after it is called *mahālaya*, for the prosperity of the ancestral *śrāddha*.
If one performs it specially with various deities, that is the *sakṛnmahālaya* (single *mahālaya* rite).
If the *mahālaya* is considered as sixteen days, the *gajacchāyā* is not included, for it contributes to the number ninety-six when the *mahālaya* is fifteen days.