Akshaya Tritiya is the first day of Krita Yuga, the first yuga of our Vedic calendar. India is a country that celebrates a host of festivals with much fervour and joy. These festivals help bind age-old traditions with our roots. Also known as Akha Teej, Akshaya Tritiya is celebrated on the third lunar day of the bright fortnight. Akshaya is a term in Sanskrit that means no decay. It is believed that this day brings good fortune and luck in your life. On this day, most people start new business, buy land or jewellery and invest in something. It is believed to initiate new beginnings on this day in order to bring good luck and fortune. Be vigilant while buying gold on Akshaya Tritiya.
The number of jewellers with licence to sell hallmarked gold ornaments across the State has increased by nearly 40 per cent in the past three years. But, as the scheme continues to be voluntary, many jewellers are yet to be brought under the hallmark certification. In Chennai and other metros, gold sale touch a new high during this time and the gold buyers must be vigilant during the peak business time. A particular street in Chennai is called Gold Street and it is worth seeing people queue up to get their share of gold on the auspicious day. But all that glitters is not gold. The number of hallmark-licensed jewellers across Tamil Nadu had gone up from 1,350 in 2016 to 1,940 now. Of this, 257 jewellers were based in Chennai.
Akshaya Tritiya is believed to be one of the most important tithi of the Hindu astrology. It is said that the sun and the moon become equally bright on this auspicious day. There are many stories related to this day. One of the legends included that on this day, as per Shiva Purana, on Akshaya Tritiya, Kuber was made the lord of riches and banker of Heaven by Lord Shiva. Wake up before the cock crows and bathe yourself to perfection and enter your pooja room with reverence and pour ghee into the oil lamps and light them. Place a picture of Lakshmi Narashimar at the centre and draw a kolam. Place a big plantain leaf on the floor and spread rice on it and place a vessel filled with water. By making use of turmeric paste make a Ganesha and place it near the vessel and decorate it with flowers and kumkum. Whole heartedly think of Goddess Mahalakshmi and say a sloga and offer the preparations to the Goddess. There is a belief that doing this eradicates poverty thereby paving way to prosperity.
There are good offers to have a go on the auspicious day. As part of their offer, one can also exchange and get 100 per cent value for old gold jewellery. Akshaya Tritiya is considered auspicious and marks a new beginning and is said to be the most preferred day for gold purchase. The legend is that any venture initiated on the auspicious day of Akshaya Tritiya continues to grow and bring prosperity.
Despite surge in gold price, jewellery stores have been witnessing considerable footfalls for the past few days. Akshaya Tritiya was celebrated on a mid-week day this time, jewellers said that it was the time to heave a sigh of relief after a prolonged lean season owing to GST rollout followed by muted market conditions, inauspicious days combined with a couple of other factors that have impacted the jewellery sales to a substantial extent.
For the past 15 years, people have been investing in gold jewellery during Akshaya Tritiya as they believe that it brings prosperity. Gold business is expected to go briskly and we can see the jewellers getting much needed boost in sale and the people likely to get the fruits for buying gold on the auspicious day of Akshaya Tritiya. Golden days are here again.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
