Garbhadana
The conception rite
Life-event rituals
Every Hindu life-event has a ritual that has been performed for it for generations. The samskaras mark a person from before birth to after death. Mytheertha gathers the major ones here, with their meaning, their proper observance, and the regional variations that families across South India and the diaspora carry.
Pumsavana
The rite at the third month of pregnancy
Seemantha / Valaikappu
The bangle ceremony in the seventh month
Jatakarma
The rite performed at birth
Namakaranam
Naming, on the eleventh day after birth
Nishkramana
The first taking of the child out of the house
Annaprashana
The first feeding of solid food
Chaula / Mottai
The first tonsure, often at a temple
Upanayana
The sacred thread ceremony
Vidyarambham
Initiation into letters
Samavartana
The completion of student life
Vivaha
Marriage, including muhurtham selection
Gruhapravesham
Housewarming
Shashtiabdapurthi
The sixtieth birthday
Sahasrachandra darshan
The thousandth-moon observance, around the eighty-first year
Antyeshti
Final rites
Pinda daan
Ancestral offerings, at Gaya, Rameshwaram, and other tirthas
Tarpanam
The daily ancestral offering at the time of Mahalaya Paksha
Shanti karma
Rites of pacification for difficult planetary or family situations
Vrata diksha
Vow undertaking