India is celebrating Akshaya Tritiya today and tomorrow, May 3rd and 4th. The festival which is also known as ‘Akha Teej’ is an annual spring festival. India being a diverse country has so many special festivals, but Akshaya Tritiya is one of the highly auspicious ones. ‘Akshaya,’ is a Sanskrit word that means ‘the one that never diminishes’ or ‘the eternal one.’ Hence as per traditions, the day is observed to be a lucky and promising one to commence something new.
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Akshaya Tritiya is celebrated on the Tritiya Tithi, Shukla Paksha of the Hindu calendar month Vaisakha. It is believed that purchasing gold on this day will bring good fortune, prosperity, and wealth in the future. People buy gold, new houses, properties, or start new businesses on this day as it is the symbol of goodness and auspiciousness.
Many mythological stories associated with Akshaya Tritiya make it an exceptional festival. Of them, the famous one is Lord Krishna and Sudama. Both of them shared an ethereal bond of friendship. Being good friends in childhood, Sudama approaches Lord Krishna when the latter is in dire need of financial help. Knowing that flattened rice or poha is Lord’s favourite food, Sudama’s wife packs it for him. After reaching Dwaraka, Sudama gifts the food pack to Krishna and that makes the Lord immensely happy. It is said that Sudama never told Krishna about his worries and issues. But Sudama found a magnificent palace filled with gold and riches instead of his old hut after returning from Dwaraka.
In addition to this, the story of Draupadi and Pandavas is also associated with Akshaya Tritiya. Pandavas during their exile thrived on whatever food they got from the forest. Such a time, when one day Sage Durvasa visited their place for a meal, Draupadi had to send him back as there was no food. Knowing this, Lord Krishna turned the empty food pot of the Pandavas into an Akshaya Patra. As the word ‘Akshaya’ meant – never-ending or diminishing – the pot always had food.
According to Hindu scriptures, Lord Parasurama was born on this day, making it all the more special and auspicious. He is regarded as the one who got back possession of lands from the mighty seas.
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Other mythological stories like King Bagiratha and Ganga Devi, Lord Shiva and Kubera, Lord Ganesha, and Mahabharata are all associated with Akshaya Tritiya. All these stories add value to Akshaya Tritiya as a festival raising its importance to be celebrated.
As mentioned before, people engage in buying gold; gold as jewellery and as bars; on this particular day. This not only increases the prosperity like how the mythology and tradition tell us but also acts as a kind of investment. Nowadays, people have started purchasing digital gold as well. Digital gold which is easily available across online platforms has the equivalent value of physical gold. Not only that, the customer can safely keep it in a secured vault.
Amid the ongoing pandemic, economic, and geopolitical crisis gold prices have seen a decent correction. Gold futures on MCX were trading with over 2% discount or lower by more than Rs 1100 at Rs 50650 per 10 gram today. Experts believe that this is the time for under-allocated investors to accumulate and increase gold in their portfolios by 10-15%.
Though the pandemic has affected the Indian crowd financially, most of the people will buy gold and silver and usher in prosperity and good fortune into their lives.
Gold rate as of 3rd May: 1 gram gold (22 ct) is 4720/- and 8 grams gold (22 ct) is 37,760/-.
Image Source: Aaj Tak
