Why Gaya and Why These Sixteen Days
Gaya in Bihar holds a specific place in Hindu scripture that no other tirtha quite matches for ancestral rites. The Garuda Purana and the Vayu Purana both name Gaya as the site where performing shraddha, offerings to the dead, carries multiplied merit. The belief is that Lord Vishnu himself pressed his foot into the earth here, and that footprint, enshrined at the Vishnupad temple, sanctifies every ritual performed on this ground.
