ଅକ୍ଷୟ ତୃତୀୟା

About ଅକ୍ଷୟ ତୃତୀୟା

Significance

Akshaya Tritiya, the third day of the bright half of Vaishakha, takes its name from akshaya, undecaying: tradition holds that the merit of charity, worship and good deeds done on this day does not diminish. The Matsya Purana and the Bhavishya Purana praise the day, and it is counted among the yugadi tithis, as the day on which the Treta Yuga is said to have begun. Many traditions also keep it as the birth anniversary of Parashurama, the sixth avatara of Vishnu, though his Jayanti is sometimes dated a day apart.

For Jains the day, Akha Teej, recalls Rishabhadeva, the first Tirthankara, breaking a year-long fast with sugarcane juice offered by Prince Shreyansa, and many Jains complete the varshitap fast on it. In Maharashtra it is one of the three and a half wholly auspicious days (sade teen muhurta), with Gudi Padwa, Vijayadashami and half of Bali Pratipada, and in Rajasthan it is a traditional day for weddings.

How and where it is observed

Akshaya Tritiya is observed across India. The Himalayan temples of Gangotri and Yamunotri traditionally open for the season on this day; at Puri the Chandan Yatra of Jagannath begins and work on the Rath Yatra chariots is started; at Simhachalam the sandal paste is removed for the Chandanotsavam so that pilgrims see the deity’s true form. In recent decades the day has also become associated with buying gold and starting ventures; this is a popular modern custom, while the older texts lay their weight on gifts and worship.

Rituals

The texts emphasise gifts suited to the hot season: pots of water (udakumbha), fans, umbrellas, sandals, barley flour (sattu), grain and fruit are given, and Vishnu and Lakshmi are worshipped, often with barley and tulsi. Many take a holy bath, offer water to the ancestors, or begin new undertakings such as a housewarming, the first sowing or a child’s first lesson, in keeping with the belief that what begins on this day endures.

How the date is fixed

Akshaya Tritiya is Vaishakha Shukla Tritiya, the same month in both reckonings. The Tritiya must prevail in the Purvahna, taken here as the first half of the daytime, from sunrise to midday. If it touches the forenoon on one day only, that day is kept; if on two days, the earlier, Dwitiya-joined day is taken by the tithi-yugma rule of Nirnaya Sindhu, which pairs Tritiya with Dwitiya; if on neither, the day on which Tritiya prevails longest.

Sources

• Matsya Purana (Akshaya Tritiya)
• Nirnaya Sindhu, Vaishakha-masa (Akshaya Tritiya) and the tithi-yugma rule (quoting Garuda Purana 1.128.16-17)
• Encyclopaedia Britannica: Akshaya Tritiya

Customs differ between regions, communities and families; this description is background, not a prescription. The date above is calculated by the rule shown on this page.