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Shashtiabdapoorthi

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Published 2026-09-04 · region: pan-Hindu · Saath Wikilifecycle

Calendar timing

60th year (completion of one Jovian cycle)

Stories & history

The year comes round againpan-Hindu

At sixty the year of one's birth returns in the sixty-year cycle, and the tradition treats the completed round as worth marking. This is the first of the three great later birthdays — sixty, seventy, and the thousand moons — and in many families it is much the largest of them, because the couple are still well enough to enjoy it.

Married a second timewidely told

In much of the south the couple are married again — the same rites, the same fire, children and grandchildren in the place the parents held the first time. Families describe it as the wedding they were too nervous to enjoy, held again by people who now know everyone in the room.

Symbolism & meaning

Core symbolism
Sixty completed — the year of birth returned, and in many traditions the couple married a second time.
Meaning
The occasion marks the completion of sixty years, when the year one was born in comes round again. What is done varies: in much of the south the couple are remarried in full, with their children conducting the rites their own parents once did; elsewhere it is a shanti homa for long life with no remarriage. Common to both is the reversal that families find striking — the generation that was given away is now given away by the generation it raised. It is usually the largest of the three later-life occasions, being the one most likely to find both of the couple in good health.

Procedure

  1. Auspicious opening. Ganesha and the family deity are invoked, and the ancestors of the household are honoured.
  2. Sankalpa. The intention is stated for the couple's long life and wellbeing in the years ahead.
  3. Shanti homa. A homa for long life is performed, with the couple seated together before the fire.
  4. The remarriage. In the traditions that keep it, the couple are married again, their children performing the parts their parents once did.
  5. Ashirvada and the feast. The couple are blessed by their elders where any survive, then bless the younger generations, and the family eats together.

Materials needed

  • Homa kunda, firewood, ghee and havan samagri
  • New clothing for the couple, gifted by their children
  • Garlands for the exchange, where the remarriage is performed
  • A fresh marriage token where the tradition renews it
  • Kalasha, coconut and mango leaves
  • Akshata, haldi, kumkum and flowers

Family participation

  • Are honoured, and remarried where the tradition keeps it — The couple
  • Perform the parts their own parents held at the first wedding — Children of the couple
  • Officiates and conducts the homa — Purohit
  • Receive the couple's blessing at the close — Grandchildren (optional)

Keep reading

Image: Unsplash/Pexels/Pixabay: No (recommended). Wikimedia/Google-CC: Yes (CC-BY-SA: name photographer + link).

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