Shraddha Samagri List — What Is Actually Needed
What is actually needed for the ancestral rites
The samagri list looks long and can feel overwhelming. Almost every item on it serves one of four purposes. Grouped that way, it is short.
If you are arranging these rites for someone you have just lost, the practical question is usually simply — what do we need to have ready. That is what this page answers.
If you book with us, none of it is your job to source. The list is here so you know what is being used and why, not because you need to go and find it.
Why the list is what it is
Samagri is not about quantity. Every item supports one of four movements in the rite.
Sankalpa, the statement of intent. Invocation, inviting the ancestors. Tarpanam, the water offerings. Pinda pradanam, the offering of sustenance. A fifth thing closes it — charity, and the feeding of those present.
Once you see which group an item belongs to, the list stops being a list and becomes four short ones.
Grouped by what each part of the rite needs
For invocation and setting the space
సంకల్పం- Copper or brass kalasham, and clean water
- Mango leaves and a coconut
- Betel leaves and areca nuts
- Turmeric, kumkum and sandalwood
- Flowers and tulasi
- Deepam with oil or ghee, wicks, incense and camphor
These establish the space and invite the ancestral presence.
For tarpanam, the water offerings
తర్పణం- Black sesame — nalla nuvulu — which is particularly associated with the ancestral rites
- Darbha or kusa grass, and pavitram
- A water vessel (pani patra) and uddharani spoon
- Barley and honey where prescribed
Water and sesame together carry the offering. This is the part almost every family recognises.
For pinda pradanam
పిండ ప్రదానం- Freshly cooked rice for the pindam
- Ghee and black sesame
- Honey, where your family includes it
- Banana leaves, vistaraku or clean plates, and donna
The pindam represents sustenance offered to the departed.
For completion and charity
దానం- Dakshina for the purohit
- Vastram, where prescribed
- Fruits
- Cooked food for naivedyam or swayampakam, and for those who are fed
Feeding and charity close the cycle. In many families this is the part that matters most to the household.
What is not required
Worth saying plainly, because families are often told otherwise at a moment when they are in no position to argue.
- Large-scale decoration
- Expensive metal idols
- Multiple elaborate homams, unless your family tradition prescribes them
- Anything bought in a hurry because someone said it was compulsory
Simplicity does not invalidate the rite. If the sankalpa, tarpanam, pinda pradanam and the charity are done properly, the rite is complete.
Regional and family variations
Some households include yam, ash gourd, payasam, or particular vessels. Some do not. Shraddha is lineage-based, and what your family does may differ from what a neighbour does without either being wrong.
Confirm with the purohit performing your rite, or with an elder in the family who has arranged it before. That is the correct authority here — not a general list, including this one.
Who arranges what
Traditionally the performing family arranges the basic household materials, while the purohit brings the specialised items — darbha, pavitram, and the ritual dravyas.
When you book with Karishye, we bring all of it. The complete samagri is sourced and prepared correctly and arrives with the purohit, so nobody in the family is running errands during a week when they should not have to.
Tell us the rite, the tithi if you know it, and the city. Everything on this page comes with the purohit. If you are unsure which rite applies, we will work that out with you first.
See ancestral rite optionsQuestions families ask
What items are needed for shraddha?
Black sesame (nalla nuvulu), darbha grass and pavitram, rice for the pindam, water vessels, leaf plates, a lamp, flowers, cooked food for naivedyam, and dakshina. The full list, grouped by what each part of the rite needs, is above.
Why is black sesame used?
Black sesame — til, or nalla nuvulu — is offered in tarpanam as prescribed by tradition for the departed. It is one of the few items that appears in almost every version of these rites, across regions.
Can the rite be performed with minimal items?
Yes. So long as the sankalpa, tarpanam, pinda pradanam and the charity are completed properly, simplicity is entirely acceptable. Simplicity does not make the rite less valid, and anyone telling you otherwise is selling something.
What if some items are unavailable?
Most have accepted substitutes. Ask the purohit performing the rite rather than searching for an exact match — tradition allows for what is actually available, and intent counts alongside procedure.
Is a homam compulsory?
Not always. Many of these rites are performed without an elaborate homam. Whether one applies depends strictly on your family tradition.
Is the samagri included if we book?
Yes. Every Karishye ancestral rite includes the complete samagri, sourced and prepared correctly, so the family does not have to arrange anything.
Do we need to cook the food ourselves?
No. We arrange the swayampakam and naivedyam as needed. If your family prefers to cook it yourselves, that is equally fine — tell us and we will plan around it.