Shraddha on 5th tithi; for unmarried ancestors and those who died young

Panchami Shraddha is the ancestral rite of Pitrupaksha performed on the Panchami tithi, the fifth lunar day of the dark fortnight of Ashwin. It is offered for forebears who departed on a Panchami of any month, and it carries a special place in the tradition as Kunwara Panchami: the day on which shraddha is offered for family members who passed away unmarried or young, before they could establish a household of their own. Such souls are believed to have no descendants of their own to offer them pinda and water, so the wider family takes up that duty on this day. The karta bathes, wears the sacred thread over the right shoulder (apasavya), and in the aparahna of the afternoon offers tarpan of water mixed with black sesame, pinda of cooked rice, and a satvik meal to brahmins, setting aside the shares of the cow, crow, dog and sacred fire. The rite repays the pitru rina, the sacred debt to the departed, and is believed to bring peace to restless souls and remove obstacles, especially those around marriage and progeny, from the living family.

The karta observes satvik purity; food is eaten only after it has been offered to the ancestors and brahmins.