Akshaya Tritiya 2025: History, Significance, Rituals And Celebrations
Akshaya Tritiya 2025: History and significance
The Sanskrit meaning of Akshaya Tritiya, the two words, holds a lot of importance. "Akshaya" means "eternal", and the term "Tritiya" signifies the third day of the illuminated half of Vaishakha month.
People celebrate Akshaya Tritiya to bring good luck to their lives. As per common belief, buying gold and properties on this day brings prosperity and wealth in the future.
According to mythology, it is believed that several events took place on Akshaya Tritiya, making it an auspicious day.
As per one legend, on Akshaya Tritiya, Treta Yuga, the second of the four yugas, started, and the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, Parshuram, was born. Another legend suggests that Maharishi Ved Vyasa, the author of the Mahabharata, started narrating the epic to Lord Ganesh on this day.
It was also on this occasion that Lord Krishna met his childhood friend Sudama. As per another notion, the river Ganga descended on Earth from heaven on Akshaya Tritiya.
Akshaya Tritiya 2025: Rituals and celebrations
On Akshaya Tritiya, people observe a day-long fast. Devotees perform puja and prepare "Akshate" (unbroken rice coated with turmeric and kumkum) to offer to Lord Vishnu. They also prepare bhog for Lord Vishnu, Lord Ganesh and other deities. Worshipping Lord Kuber is also seen as an auspicious practice.
Since Akshaya Tritiya is an auspicious day, many people like to buy gold or silver items as it is believed that buying precious metals brings prosperity and good luck to the family. This day is also auspicious for marriages.
Moreover, charitable works are an important part of the day. Devotees distribute grains, clothes, and other items among the poor to receive the blessings of Lord Vishnu.
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The arrival of technology was a sign of emancipation, but it also created anxiety because of the constantly changing personal and social life. The lure of modernity, hence, was perceived as a threat to religious traditions. The anxiety created by Western education and modernity made a section of the Hindu middle class embrace religious rituals with a vigour. The 1930s saw the popularity of the 'Satyanarayana Pooja' soar to new heights. Lord Satyanarayana was considered a form of Lord Vishnu, and hence the ritual was performed with great devotion in the month of 'Ashadh'. Since men had to work during the day, the pooja was organised in the evenings, followed by dinner for guests in some wealthy households. 'Ashadh Pournima', the full moon day of the month of 'Ashadh', was also celebrated as 'Guru Pournima' as a day to mark reverence to teachers. Many families observed a full-day fast on the occasion. The fast ended after the evening ritual of paying obeisance to the spiritual or religious guru of the family or the deity. Some well-to-do families in Pune organised community feasts in Vishnu temples in the city. Many invited their guru, or a Brahmin for lunch. It was also a day when students bowed before their teachers in schools and colleges. The Hindu unification project, initiated and led by the likes of Mahadevshastri Divekar in the early 1920s, called for the abolition of rituals that encouraged the segregation supported by the caste system. Fasting on 'Ekadashi' was considered a tool to bridge the gaps and rifts between different castes and communities, chiefly owing to the association with the pilgrimage to Pandharpur, where men and women belonging to different castes and communities participated. Those not fasting every 'Ekadashi' were not considered good Hindus. Following religious rituals was deemed necessary to preserve Hinduism in its 'pure' form. As a result, groups like 'Tarun Maharashtra Mandal' organised bhajans and keertans for three days before the 'Ashadhi Ekadashi' in the so-called 'lower caste' localities. People belonging to these castes and communities were urged to fast and follow Hindu rituals. Extra shows of movies and plays, apart from the regular shows at 6 pm and 10 pm, were organised at 3 pm on 'Ashadhi Ekadashi'. Movies like 'Sant Sakhu' and 'Sant Meerabai' were shown, and plays like 'Swargasundari' were staged. The trend probably started in the late 1920s. On the 'Ashadhi Ekadashi' in July 1930, Jagadish Film Company's 'Dwarakadhesh' was screened at Aryan Theatre. The 3 pm show was packed with a large crowd outside the movie hall shouting at the doorkeeper to let them in. In the following years, movie halls in Pune made it a regular custom to organise extra shows on 'Ashadhi Ekadashi'. Movie halls like the Minerva Talkies and Prabhat were known to distribute dates to the fasting audience. According to Datye, 'Ashadhi Ekadashi' was an occasion to cleanse mind and body, and those watching movies and drinking 'soda-lemon' were drifting away from the purpose, and hence, from their religion. The young men, on whom 'future of the country rested', were supposed to take pride in the glorious religious traditions of Hinduism; 'modern education' had corrupted the minds of men and women who were gratified by 'western indulgences', but the least they could do was fast on 'Ashadhi and Kartiki Ekadashis', he wrote. Datye's letter in 'Dnyanaprakash' was a testament to the renewed enthusiasm surrounding Hindu festivals in twentieth-century Maharashtra that emphasised the importance of fasting and prayer as integral to the lifestyle of the community, and that these practices were deeply embedded in their religious identity. It showed how the stress, emotions, and novelty associated with westernisation and modernity collided with challenges from the internal and external world that demanded self-control, orderliness, and homogeneity. Chinmay Damle is a research scientist and food enthusiast. He writes here on Pune's food culture. He can be contacted at
