தை அமாவாசை

Thai Amavasai (தை அமாவாசை) is the amavasya of the Tamil month of Thai. Sons (and, in some houses, daughters) offer tarpanam — water, til, and a blade of grass — to the father's line. Coastal Tamil families go to the sea; inland houses go to a river or to the backyard tap. Rameswaram is the named shore. This is not a festival meal. It is ancestor work. Widows' houses, sons abroad, and adopted lines all have a krama — ask the eldest, do not invent one. Aadi Amavasai is a second such day; this page is Thai. In 2026 the date is Sunday, 18 January.

Observances

1. Tarpanam

   Water, black til, and darbha or ordinary grass, offered facing south, naming the dead of the father's line.

   If the son is abroad, he offers at a local shore or at the kitchen sink and calls the elder who would have stood with him. Name the dead. Do not replace this with a generic 'remembrance day'.

2. Sea or water

   Where possible, the offering is at the sea. A river, lake, or running tap stands in — say which.

Getting ready

• Confirm who offers; buy black til; choose sea, lake, or home water

  ritual

  3d

• Bathe; tarpanam facing south; name the line

  ritual

  0d

In the US

US Tamil families use a nearby ocean (Jersey shore, Pacifica, Galveston) or a lake. Temples sometimes run a group tarpanam. Til and darbha ship from Indian grocers. If there is no son in the house, the person the family already names as the one who offers — do not overwrite that.