Hindu devotees perform ‘pinda daan’ despite cold
By IANSTuesday, January 12, 2010
GAYA - Ignoring the biting cold sweeping Bihar, hundreds of Hindu devotees have come to this holy town to perform the ‘pinda daan’ ritual to ensure salvation for the souls of their ancestors, officials said Tuesday.
“At a time when cold wave conditions force local people indoors in Gaya, Hindu devotees from across India and neighbouring Nepal are performing the ‘pinda daan’ ritual for ancestors in the open,” Madhav Kumar, a district official said.
Bihar has been experiencing an intense cold wave for the last 12 days with Gaya, about 100 km from state capital Patna, recording a minimum temperature of 5.6 degrees Celsius Monday and 5.4 degrees Tuesday, local met officials said.
“Every day dozens of buses full of devotees arrive here to perform the ‘pinda daan’ ritual for ancestors,” Hindu priest Gayawal Panda, who conducts the rituals for the devotees, told IANS.
During the month of Magh in the Indian calendar, considered as a “mini pitrapaksh” (a fortnight-long ancestor worship period), thousands of devotees come to Gaya to perform the ‘pinda daan’.
The main pitrapaksh, is observed every year in September or October, and is considered to be an auspicious time for ‘pinda daan’.
“The soul keeps wandering till this ritual is performed by male descendants of the dead,” Murari Lal, a priest said.
‘Pinda daan’ is traditionally offered by Hindus, but historical records available with priests show that some Muslims also performed the ritual in the past.
