People express gratitude to ancestors on last day of Pitra Paksha

People offer 'tarpan' along the banks of Ganga on Mahalaya, the last day of Pitra Paksha, near Howrah Bridge in Calcutta

PTI Photos

Items meant to be used for tarpan ritual on display for sale at a roadside shop in Calcutta

People perform 'pinda dan' near Howrah bridge in Calcutta

Tarpan on the banks of Brahmaputra in Dibrugarh

Obeisance at Agartala

Powai Lake in Mumbai is inundated with devotees

The Ganga ghat in Varanasi has a melee of crowd on the auspicious occasion

Reverence at its best at Upper Lake in Bhopal

People braving all odds on the banks of Hooghly river in Nadia

India today witnessed the rituals of offering tribute to the departed forefathers i.e. 'Pitra Paksha' - it also heralds the beginning of 'Devi Paksha' aka Mahalaya. People gathered to perform tarpan ritual for their ancestors along the banks of Ganga in various parts of the country