Akshaya Tritiya · Akha Teej Festival The third day of the bright fortnight of Vaishakha, one of the few days of the year that need no muhurtham at all: anything begun on it is held to be akshaya, not to run out.
The name
The same day, written in each of the six scripts this app keeps
- English
- Akshaya Tritiya · Akha Teej
- தமிழ்
- அட்சய திருதியை
- తెలుగు
- అక్షయ తృతీయ
- ಕನ್ನಡ
- ಅಕ್ಷಯ ತೃತೀಯ
- हिन्दी
- अक्षय तृतीया
- मराठी
- अक्षय्य तृतीया
UTC+5:30
The date of a festival depends on the place: a tithi that ends at dusk in Chennai can still be running at dusk a thousand kilometres west, which moves the day. Sunrise and sunset here are computed for the place above.
When it falls next
Looking for the calendar this day belongs to
This day does not fall again in the next three years at this place. A few days are tied to the solar month rather than to the civil year, so a year can hold two of them or none.
What the day is
The third day of the bright fortnight of Vaishakha, one of the few days of the year that need no muhurtham at all: anything begun on it is held to be akshaya, not to run out. It is the day Parasurama was born, the day the Ganga came down, the day Krishna gave Sudama the handful of poha, and at Puri the day the chariots for the Rath Yatra are begun. Gold is bought on it across India.
- Deity
- Vishnu, Lakshmi, Parasurama
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
The hour
The rule in words
The Tritiya running at madhyahna, midday, is the classical rule, and the calendar takes that day; the whole day is held auspicious, so a purchase or a beginning at any hour will do.
The fast
No fast is required, though some keep it for Vishnu and Lakshmi. Barley, water pots, fans and sesame are given away, and in Jain practice it is the day the year-long fast of Rishabhanatha was broken with sugar cane juice.
Where the regions differ
Gold buying is the common Indian face of the day; Bengal opens the new account book, the halkhata; Odisha begins the paddy sowing and the chariot building; the Jains keep Varshi Tap parana.
Fixing a day for it
The muhurtham rules that go with this festival
Buying gold or jewellery. Poosam is the star for buying gold, and Akshaya Tritiya (Vaishakha Shukla Thritiyai) and Dhanteras (Krishna Trayodasi before Deepavali) are the two days the whole country buys on, whatever else the day carries. No lagna rule is applied here, so the day is graded as a whole.
Every date here is computed from the Sun and Moon for the place entered, by the rule printed beside it. A printed panchangam can differ by a day where an almanac reads a tithi at a different instant, and a family's own custom always comes first. Where the practice genuinely varies, the text says so rather than choosing for you.