Why are specific days prescribed for condolence ?

There was a query..

Why are specific days prescribed for condolence ?

My understanding of the matter is that

Is there any such prescription in Shrutis or smrithis.. not exactly.. ?

Of course condolence beyond the aashaucham period is odd.. because on the eleventh day even the close kin take purificatory bath and start living in some sort of normalcy..

The days prescribed are through some social arrangement..

The prohibition for other days seem to be some later justification..

But then there is a social background..

The bereaved people are in a mental turmoil.. Though some sympathy and show of solidarity may be of great help to them, if people start butting in without any order or reason and without any time schedule, that can lead the close family into greater turmoil and disturbance..

And avoiding some week days are the choice of those who go for the condolence.. mainly because they feel certain week days and stars are too sacred to grieve..

It is just a choice.

And for the close relatives, Sapindas, Samanodhakaas and Jnaathis, they have no such restrictions..

In fact when a person in the clan dies, it is expected that all Dayathis, and even persons closely connected on the mother's side by one or two generations alone should all stay together under the same roof and share the same food.. for ten days. Or at least as long as they have aashaucham.

Of course this is not done these day..

If some busybodies weave yarns about more and more superstitions even Yajnavalkya or Apastambha cannot explain such issues..

I am talking about things applicable to Tamil Brahmin system..

In Kerala, Saturday is the prescribed day for visits on condolence.. We Tamils abhor that idea.. There are many such variations..

But the bottomline is that there should be dignity on the part of the mourners as well as the visitors.. And the visitors are expected to be kind.. because the grief suffered by the mourners is beyond repair..

And mind you, there is no restriction on visits before cremation or on the tenth day before Prabhootha Bali..