The samskaras Pandit Sahadev conducts for families in Austria and across Europe, each explained on its own page: where the rite falls in a life, how it is performed, and what it asks of the family.
For all sixteen samskaras named and set in order, from Garbhadhana to Antyeshti, read The Sixteen Samskaras Explained.
Birth and Childhood
Naming Ceremony
Namakarana, the naming of a child: the four names given, why the tradition waits, the whisper into the ear, and naming a child born in Europe.
First Feeding Ceremony
Annaprashana, the first feeding: why a child’s first spoonful of rice is treated as sacred, when the rite is held, and how families in Europe keep it.
Hair-Cutting Ceremony
Chudakarana, or Mundan, the first hair-cutting: the close of infancy, the hair returned to the earth, the tuft kept at the crown and the blessing of long life.
Initiation, Marriage and the Last Rites
Sacred Thread Ceremony
Upanayana, the sacred thread: what the thread commits its wearer to, how the rite unfolds, and how families in Europe keep it properly.
Hindu Wedding
Vivaha, the Hindu wedding: the haldi, the mandap, kanyadana, the laja homa and the seven steps, and the wedding kept in Europe.
Last Rites
Antyeshti and Shraddha, the Vedic last rites: the funeral rite, the period of mourning, the joining of the departed with the ancestors and the Shraddha that follows.
After the last rites, the duty to the departed continues in the offerings made to the ancestors: see Pitru Puja and Pitru Tarpana.