Manvadi tithi marking the start of Tamasa Manu's era; Shraddha and charity are highly meritorious

Tamasa Manvadi is one of the fourteen Manvadi tithis of the Hindu calendar, each marking the beginning of a Manvantara, the reign of one of the fourteen Manus who rule a kalpa (a day of Brahma). According to the Matsya Purana and other texts, Kartika Shukla Dwadashi is the Manvadi of Tamasa, the fourth Manu, son of King Priyavrata, in whose era Vishnu appeared as Hari and rescued the elephant king Gajendra from the crocodile. We now live in the seventh Manvantara, that of Vaivasvata Manu. Like the Yugadi tithis, the Manvadi tithis are considered especially sacred for Shraddha: the scriptures say that ancestral offerings made on a Manvadi satisfy the Pitris for two thousand years. Bathing in a holy river, charity, fasting and Vishnu worship on these days are also highly meritorious. Since Tamasa Manvadi falls in the holy last days of Kartika, near Prabodhini Ekadashi, Tulsi Vivah and Bhishma Panchak, many devotees combine its Shraddha with their Kartika observances.

Those offering Shraddha eat once after the rites.