Akshay Tritiya is one of the most auspicious days for Hindus. Akshay Tritiya 2010 date is May 16th as per some sources. Akshay Tritiya is celebrated on the third day of the first half of the Hindu month of Vaishakha (Vaishakha Shudda Tritiya or Thadiya). As per the Hindu traditions and culture, Akshay Tritiya is considered as the most significant day to perform sacred deeds (Punya Karya).
In Sanskrit, the meaning of Akshay is never diminishing. As the meaning says, on the day of Akshay Tritiya people never feel the dearth of happiness or bliss. What is the Importance and Significance of Akshay Tritiya as per the Hindu Astrology? According to the Hindu Astrology, especially in terms of Muhurtas, Akshaya Tritiya is considered as one of the three most auspicious Muhurtas (Sade-Teen Muhurat). One is the first thithi of the Chaitra Month (Ugadi Day), second is the tenth thithi of the Lunar month Ashwin or Aswayuja masam (Vijaya Dashmi Day) and the third one is the third thithi of Vaishakha masa, the Akshaya Tirtiya Day. It is also referred as Unboojha Muhurat. What is the Importance and Significance of Akshaya Tritiya as per the Hindu Mythology? As per the Hindu religious texts and epics, the Thretha Yuga was started on the day of Akshaya Tritiya. On the day of Akshaya Tritiya, Hindus also observe the birthday of Lord Parasurama, the sixth incarantion of Lord Sri Maha Vishnu. As mentioned in the Vedas, on the day of Akshaya Trithiya, along with Lord Ganesha Sage Veda Vyasa initiated writing the great epic, Mahabharata. Puranas describe the day of Akshaya Trithiya is the birthday of Lord Parasurama (Lord Parasurama Jayanthi). The Hindu scriptures and other sacred texts explained the greatness of Lord Parasuram. On the day of Akshaya Tirtiya, Lord Shri Balarama Jayanthi (birthday of Lord Sri Balaram) is also celebrated. Balarama was the elder brother of Lord Sri Krishna. Lord Balaram is significantly known with his weapon 'Hal. Lord Balarama is also referred as one of the Dasavatara, ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu. What are the Rituals, Customs and Traditions of Akshay Tritiya? Akshay Tritiya festival is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. Worship of Lord Vishnu on Akshay Tritiya eradicates and removes ones sins and makes him free from all sorrows. Puranas described that Devotees who perform Sri Maha Vishnu Puja on Akshay Tritiya may attain salvation. In some regions, devotees keep fasts on Akshaya Tritiya. As per the Puranas, charity of food, clothes and other edible material on Akshaya Tritiya is also considered as most important ritual of the festival. There is a ritual to perform Goddess Tulsi Puja on Akshay Tritiya in some regions of India. Akshaya Trithiyai Today May 16, 2010!! A great deal of importance is attached to Akshya Trithiya,but many of us know this day as a good day to buy Gold. Curious to know the actual significance of the day,I googled and came up with a whole lot of amazing and wonderful information which I decided to share here. Trithiyai is the third day after the new moon,Akshaya means growth and that which never diminishes.In the Tamil month of Chitrai,the Thrithiyai which falls in the 'shukla paksham'(the bright half or valar pirai)is called as Akshaya Trithiyai. Trithiyai occurs every month but the one that occurs in Chitrai is celebrated specially, there are many great stories associated with 'Akshay Trithiyai'.Let us first recollect the very famous and popular story of Sudama and Sri Krishna. Sudama goes to visit his long term long term friend Sri Krishna with a handful of Poha tied in a small cloth.Sri Krishna takes the poha, has a mouthful and utters "Akshayam",and then Lo&behold!! Sudama's humble abode transforms into a palace and Sudama lives a prosperous life thereon. Another important story that comes to my mind is Draupadi crying to Sri Krishna for help during 'Vastrabaharanam',Krishna is in the midst of a game of dice with Satyabhama at Dwaraka.No sooner than he hears Draupadi's cry he says "Akshayam"and there is constant flow of robe for Draupadi and she is saved. Akshaya Thritiya is auspicious and holy as per Vedas because it was on this day that Lord Ganesha along with Veda Vyas started the scripting of the great epic Mahabharatam. It is also said that Prasurama, the sixth avatara of Vishnu was born on this day. According to Hindu mythology there are four yugas,Satyuga, Dwaparayuga, Tretayuga and Kaliyuga.The Treta Yuga is said to have started on this day and the river Ganges descended to earth on this auspicious day.Many Hindus believe it is very auspicious to take a dip in the ganges on this day. Laksmi Kubera Poojai is very important on Akshaya Trithiyai day and many observe fast on this day. Donations, feeding the poor and needy and charity form an important part of Akshaya Trithiya and are said to yield unending good results. In the Baghavad Gita Sri Krishna says;"The steadily devoted soul attains unadulterated peace because he offers the result of all his activities to me,whereas a person who is not in union with the divine and is greedy for the fruits of his labour becomes entangled." This statement of Sri Krishna implies that implies that donating money to those who need it makes a person stronger from within and ultimately liberated, as he develops the power to detach himself from the material aspects of life. The Chandan Yatra at Puri Jagannath started on this day too.Sandal paste is applied on the body of Lord Jagannath and the Idol is taken out on a procession. It is no wonder then that Akshay Trithiyai is celebrated by Hindus all over the world and all auspicious activities like building a house, starting business, buying gold, conducting marriages are done on this day. It is believed that the four Purushartas Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha, started on this day become non diminishing . Jains too celebrate Akshya Trithiyai .There is a story of the first thrithankara as under: Jainism is one of the oldest religions in India. Rshabhadeva alias Adinath is the first Tirthankara of the Jains. Tirthankara Rshabhdeva was king of Ayodhya. He being enlightened gave up all earthly pleasures and chose to lead the life of an ascetic and become a Jain monk. Jain monks do not posses anything with them not even food. They do not even cook food for themselves. While hungry or thirsty, they go to people and ask for food or drinking water. Tirthankara Rshabhdeva also went to people and asked food. However, the people of that time did not know anything about the acts of monks, as he was the first monk in this era. People of Ayodhya offered gold, jewellery, gemstones, elephants, horses, expensive garments and even their daughters to honour their beloved king. Rshabhdeva was not in quest of all these. He wanted only food,and that no body offered him. No body at that time could guess that their king was asking for food. As there was no choice, he had to fast for long time until his grand son Shreyansha kumara understood his need. Shreyansha kumara, finally, offered him sugar cane juice and Rshabhdeva broke his fast with that juice. The incident happened on the day of Akshaya Tritiya. This is considered by the Jains as one of the best offerings. It is believed that bestowing upon religious gifts on Akshaya Tritiya becomes inexhaustible. Jains, even today, observe long term fast to commemorate their first Tirthankara Rshabhadeva and broke their fast on Akshaya Tritiya with sugar cane juice. Huge crowd of Jains assemble in Hastinapura and Palitana to celebrate the auspicious day. Lakshmi Kubera Poojai is as I mentioned earlier a very important part of Akshaya Trithiyai's celebrations and here it is of equal importance to know the story of Kubera associated: When Kubera went to Kailasam once to have a darshan of Lord Shiva, he found Him with Goddess Parvathi. Kubera was stunned to see the splendour and beauty of Goddess Parvathi. He felt sorry that he had not worshipped such a fine goddess for so long and one of his eyes shut itself. Goddess Parvathi got angry that Kubera was winking at Her, and looking at Her with evil intention. She made his eye burst. Kubera lost sight in one eye and was also cursed that he would always look ugly. Lord Kubera pleaded with Lord Siva to forgive him and explained that he had not seen the Goddess with any evil intention. Lord Siva left the choice to His consort. Goddess Parvathi forgave Kubera and let the eye grow back, but it was smaller than the other one. So one eye of Kubera is smaller than the other. Kubera was rewarded by Lord Siva with the post of being one of the guards of the eight directions - the North. The Goddess made him the lord of wealth and material. As the God of wealth and material, his responsibilities are to distribute them while creating wealth is with Goddess Lakshmi. Performing pooja to Lord Kubera is believed to enrich one's life. To have a wealthy and comfortable life, one has to perform Sri Lakshmi Kubera Pooja. There are separate mantras and rituals for the pooja. Akshaya Thritiyai is the most ideal day to do charity, help the physically challenged, do financial helps for higher studies for needy, deserving people as well.It is said that giving curd rice to others improves longevity of life. Distribution of sweets, helps to get over the obstacles in getting married. Distribution of grains and cereals, prevents accidents and untimely death. By giving cattle feed, prosperity will increase. So, let us do good deeds on this auspicious day and pray for good things in life. DISCLAIMER: Notice : This e-mail and any attachments may contain information which is confidential to the addressee and may also be privileged. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, you may not copy, forward, disclose or otherwise use it in any way whatsoever. If you have received this e-mail by mistake, please e-mail the sender by replying to this message, and deleting the original and any printout thereof. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BETTER PERSONALITY GROUP" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/better_personality?hl=en.
