When Akshaya Tritiya falls

Dates are computed astronomically against Kashi sunrise.

The significance of Akshaya Tritiya

Akshaya Tritiya puja vidhi

1. 1Bathe early and take the sankalpa to observe the day; wear clean clothes.
2. 2Worship Vishnu and Lakshmi together, offering tulsi, flowers, akshat and incense.
3. 3Offer a bhog of satvik food, and where kept, cooling foods such as sattu, fruit and panakam.
4. 4Recite the Vishnu or Lakshmi mantra, or read a passage of the Vishnu Sahasranama.
5. 5Give in charity: a filled water-pot, food, sesame, cloth, or a fan or slippers for the summer, to those in need.
6. 6Perform the aarti and distribute prasad.
7. 7Begin any new venture or purchase with the day's blessing, the muhurta being complete in itself.

Vrat rules

• Many keep a fast or take only satvik food, and worship Vishnu and Lakshmi through the day.
• Charity is the day's foremost act — giving water, food, sesame, cloth and other necessities to those in need.
• The giving of a water-pot (jal daan) and cooling foods is especially valued, the day falling in the heat of summer.
• New ventures, purchases and auspicious beginnings are undertaken, needing no separate muhurta.
• The buying of gold is a common custom, held to bring lasting prosperity.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Thinking the day is only about buying gold — its heart is beginnings, worship and daan (charity), not a purchase.
• Waiting for a muhurat; Akshaya Tritiya is abujh, auspicious in full, one of the saadhe-teen muhurats of the year.
• Skipping the daan — giving water, sattu, fans and food in the summer heat is the day's defining act of merit.
• Treating it as a minor day; tradition marks it as one of the year's most auspicious for anything lasting.

The vrat katha of Akshaya Tritiya

Akshaya Tritiya timeline

1. Dawn — the auspicious day begins

   Being an abujh muhurat, the whole day is auspicious; no separate time need be checked for beginnings.

2. Worship & daan

   Vishnu and Lakshmi are worshipped; water, sattu, fruit, fans and gold or grain are given in charity — the merit is held 'akshaya', never diminishing.

3. Beginnings & buying

   New ventures, purchases and investments are made; buying gold is a modern custom read as everlasting prosperity.

4. Temple events

   Badrinath opens, Banke Bihari shows his feet, and Puri begins the Rath Yatra chariots — the day's great darshans.

Famous places & temples

Interesting facts

• ◆'Akshaya' means never-diminishing — whatever is begun, given or bought today is held to grow and never wane.
• ◆It is an abujh muhurat: the entire day is auspicious, needing no astrologer's timing — one of only three-and-a-half such days.
• ◆Tradition places many beginnings here — the Treta Yuga began, Ganga descended, Vyasa began dictating the Mahabharata, and Sudama met Krishna.
• ◆For Jains it is Akshaya Tritiya (Varshi Tap parana), when Rishabhadeva ended a year-long fast with sugarcane juice.

Common questions