Both Maci maasa pravesa tharppanam and Ashtaka tharppanam fall on Monday, the February 13th 2023.
Maasa Sankaraman tharppanam must be performed first followed by Ashtaka shraddham (tharppanam).
Can both these thrappanam be combined into a single thrappanam?
As there are minor differences, both these tharppanams are not usually combined into a single thrappanam.
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Maasa pravesa tharppanam is similar to Amavasyai tharppanam – it is performed with both the father and mother’s side (mAtru varga and pitru varga) as the objective of the tharppanam.
In the maasa pravesa tharppanam, the sankalpam is not done for the names of one’s mother, paternal grandmother and paternal great-grandmother are invoked. But in the Ashtaka shraddam (tharppanam) their names are included in the sankalpam.
As an example, in the Ashtaka shraddham, additionally in the sankalpam “gotrAnAM sharmanAM asmad pitru pitAmaha prapitAmahAnAm” and “mAtru pitAmahi prapitAmaheenAm” is included.
A few make use of separate sets of bhugnam (darbha grass) in the tharppanam for the mother, paternal grandmother, and paternal great-grandmother. A few others use the same set of bhugnam used for father, paternal grandfather, and paternal great-grandfather for mother, paternal grandmother, and paternal great-grandmother. Doing so means there is not much of a difference between this tharppanam and Amavasyai tharppanam; however, there is a difference in the sankalpam – sankalpam by mentioning the respective names sankalpam is done including “…mAtru pitAmahi prapitAmaheenAm..”.
Hence, Ashtaka shraddham must be done separately.
A few perform Ashtaka shraddha tharppanam for one varga, for the father’s side, alone and not for the mother’s side. Even they must perform both the maasa pravesa tharppanam and Ashtaka tharpannam separately.
Notes:
For those who perform Ashtaka tharppanam exactly as same as maasa pravesa tharppanam, it is enough that they perform one of these tharppanam-s and not both. But adiyen is not aware of any such persons who follow such a practice. In case there are such people, it is sufficient that they perform either Ashtaka or maasa pravesa tharppanam and not both.