Pind Daan vidhi: the offering of pindas

What a pinda is

Pind Daan (Pinda Dana) means "the giving of pindas". A pinda is a ball of cooked food, usually rice, shaped by hand and offered to an ancestor. The word pinda also means "body" or "lump". Traditionally the ball stands for the body that nourishes the departed one in the next stage of the journey, and for the family's unbroken line.

Pind Daan is normally one part of a Shraddha. Tarpan gives water. Pind Daan adds food. It is often done together with Tarpan, a meal for Brahmins or guests, and charity. Many families do it every year on the death anniversary, and many pilgrims do it at Gaya, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Haridwar and other holy places.

Traditions vary on details. Follow your family's custom or your priest's guidance. For a full Shraddha with Pind Daan, working with a priest is the usual and safest way, especially the first time.

Ingredients

• Cooked rice, made plain without salt or spices. Some families use a rice-and-barley mixture.
• Barley flour (yava or jau ka atta), mixed in or used alone.
• Black sesame seeds (til).
• Ghee (clarified butter).
• Honey.
• Milk.

These are mixed to a firm dough and shaped into balls the size of a lemon or a small fist. The usual number is three for the father's line, one each for father, grandfather and great-grandfather. Additional pindas are made for the mother's line and for others, depending on the tradition and the rite. At Gaya a larger number of pindas is offered for different relatives and purposes.

Other items for the setting: kusha grass, a plate or banana leaf, flowers, sandalwood paste or rice grains, a lamp, incense, and a small copper vessel of water. You also need water with sesame as in Tarpan.

The steps in order

The order differs between schools. This is a common general outline:

1. Preparation. Bathe, wear clean clothes, and sit facing south on a kusha mat. Purify yourself with sips of water and make the sankalpa, stating the date, your name and gotra, and the ancestors for whom you offer.
2. Tarpan first. Offer water to the gods, sages and ancestors as in the Tarpan guide.
3. Make the pindas. Cook the rice with a little ghee, mix in sesame, honey and barley flour, and shape the balls. Place them on kusha grass spread on the ground or a plate, in a row facing south.
4. Invoke the ancestors. Call the father, grandfather and great-grandfather by name and gotra, and ask them to accept the offering.
5. Worship the pindas. Sprinkle water, then offer sesame, sandalwood or rice, flowers, a cotton thread or a piece of new cloth, incense and a lamp, with the sacred thread or cloth in the apasavya position.
6. Offer the pinda. Place each pinda on the kusha while naming the person, with the words "this pinda is for you, svadha, salutations". Pour a little water with sesame over each.
7. Offerings for others. Offer pindas for the mother's line and for relatives with no one to offer for them, according to your tradition.
8. Prayer and closing. Bow, ask pardon for mistakes, wash your hands and return the thread to its normal position.

In most families the pinda is offered together with a request to the ancestors to be pleased and to bless the family. No outcome is guaranteed. The rite is an act of devotion and gratitude.

The Vishnu connection and Gaya

In Hindu tradition Vishnu is the sustainer of the world, and ancestor rites are performed with a prayer to him. Texts such as the Garuda Purana praise Gaya as a place for these offerings. A well-known story tells of the demon Gaya (Gayasura), whose body became the sacred ground at Gaya in Bihar. At the Vishnupad temple there, a footprint of Vishnu in rock is worshipped, and pindas are offered near it. Gaya is regarded as the most important place for Pind Daan, and the Phalgu river is part of the rite. Many families say that a Gaya Shraddha offered once is a lasting offering, while others continue annual rites at home. Both views exist. See the guide to Gaya for the details of that pilgrimage.

Sapinda: who is counted

The rite is tied to the idea of sapinda, relatives connected by the offering of pindas. Classical texts count the relationship through several generations on the father's side and fewer on the mother's side, and the exact count differs between texts. In practice the three generations before you receive the pindas directly, along with their wives, and the maternal grandfather's line is added in the same way.

Brahmin bhojan, daan and alternatives

A traditional Shraddha includes feeding one or more Brahmins (Brahmin bhojan), who are invited as representatives of the ancestors, followed by a gift (dakshina and daan) of clothing, grain, sesame or money. This is meant to take the offering to the ancestors through someone who receives it with respect.

Where this is not possible, common alternatives are:

• Give uncooked food items (sidha: rice, dal, vegetables, ghee, fruit) and dakshina to a priest, with a request to perform the rite on your behalf.
• Offer a meal to a learned person, a temple kitchen or a charity.
• Donate to a food bank, a school or a hospital in the name of the ancestor.
• Feed a cow, birds and animals, and anyone who comes to your door.

Giving with sincerity matters more than the amount. Choose according to your means.

What to do with the pindas afterwards

Traditions differ. Common practices are:

• Place the pindas in a river or flowing water, a custom at places such as Haridwar and Prayagraj. In the USA check local rules before doing this (see the guide on Shraddha in the USA).
• Give them to a cow, where one is available, which is a respected way in India.
• Put them in a place where birds can eat, such as a clean tray in a garden.
• Bury them in soil, or place them at the foot of a tree or a plant, if no flowing water is available.
• Offer a portion to crows. The crow (kaka) is seen in Hindu custom as a messenger of ancestors, and the custom of the first portion of food for crows (kaka bali) is common in Shraddha. If a crow takes the food, some people take it as a sign of acceptance. If it does not, there is no cause for worry, and the rite is not considered incomplete.

Do not throw the pindas in a trash can. If you cannot find any of these, use a corner of a garden or the base of a tree.