Akhi Tritiya

Akhi Tritiya

Akshaya Tritiya, is a Hindu holy day, that falls on the third Tithi (Lunar day) of Bright Half (Shukla Paksha) of the pan-Indian month of Baishakh and one of the four most important days for  Hindus. It is an auspicious day as the birthday of God Parsuram who is the sixth incarnation of Prabhu Bishnu. On this day Vyasa Deva and Bighneshwar Ganesh began to write the greatest epic Mahabharat. The meaning of the word Akshaya is infinite that which never recede. In Jain and Hindu calendars, some days of the month are absent in counting and some days (tithi as its known in lunar calendar) come extra, but Akshay tritiya is one day which is never “absent” from the lunar Calendar. The word “Akshaya” means the never diminishing in Sanskrit and the day is believed to bring good luck and success. It is believed that if you do charity on this day you will be blessed. On ‘Akshay Tritiya’ ‘Mrutika’ also worshipped.The day is considered auspicious for starting new ventures. The legend is that any venture initiated on the auspicious day of Akshaya Tritiya continues to grow and bring prosperity. Hence, new ventures, like starting a business, construction etc. is initiated on Akshaya Tritiya. In our Odisha, on Akshay Tritiya farmers start ploughing their land and construction of chariots for Rath Yatra begins at Puri. Shree Jeus play ‘Jala-Krida’ in Narendra Pushkarini. Devotees fondly call it as Lord’s ‘Chapa Khela’. It is observed as Chandan Yatra. At Bhubaneswar, Lord Lingaraj also takes on the ‘Chapa Khela’ on this day of Chandan Yatra. Anyway, farmers in our state kick off their cultivation for the new agricultural year. I pray the Almighty to grant a bumper crop to the farmers in my state in the ensuing season. Jaya Jagannath