Today is the ‘Akshaya Tritiya’, an auspicious day for both Hindus and Jains. The word ‘Akshaya’ in Sanskrit means ‘infinite’, ‘plentiful’, ‘self replenishing’ and Tritiya is the 3rd Lunar day, after a Full Moon or in the case of Akshaya Tritiya, the New Moon.
The day is said to be auspicious as it was on one such Akshaya Tritiya day, the Lord Kubera was enthroned as a joint custodian of wealth, along with the Goddess of Wealth, Lakshmi. The belief is that whatever is done this day, as per its name, will ‘multiply’, become ‘plentiful’, and keep ‘replenishing’.
My mother tells me that my grandmother and the wise women before her, who were rich in both the materialistic and meta-physical sense, preferred to buy dry provisions like cereals and nuts on this day.
It seems they also insisted on the women folk to plant a few vegetable seeds and that the children on this day, which usually in my part of India occurs during the annual summer vacation, sit down, study, and learn something.
My mother says that she never ever heard my grandmother on either side insist that the family queues up to buy Gold or Silver. Of course if there was an occasion to buy Gold or jewellery in near future, like a forthcoming marriage or such, then the day to buy jewellery and silk was fixed on that year’s Akshaya Tritiya. Otherwise it wasn’t considered an outright necessity to buy Gold, Silver or other precious metals on this day.
My own memories of this day also support her contention. This was a day we were told to pick up some books and study or learn something.
But of late, over the last 10 years or so, there has been this craze to buy Gold or other precious metals on this particular day.
No doubt such a belief has been actively encouraged by the precious metal merchants who are only happy to flog their wares at the slightest hint of anything auspicious. Or even inauspicious. It has become a laughing matter in Chennai that every month has its own special reason for a ‘discount’ sale, from furniture to futures, cars to cosmetics, household items to item jewellery.
It used to be that the Tamil month of ‘Aadi’ corresponding to the ‘Ashadha’ month of the Hindu calendar which falls between mid-July to mid-August was considered inauspicious for celebrations. It was a month to be spent on prayers to the Gods and generally anything new was not ventured or bought. But by announcing an unbelievable 50% discount sale during the month, the shopkeepers have turned the month into a money-raker for themselves.
If the money loving shop keepers and traders can turn an ‘inauspicious’ month like ‘Aadi’ into a roaring money-spinner, what can’t they do with a designated, accepted auspicious day, specifically termed as a ‘wealth maker’? Thus the Akshaya Tritiya day has turned out into one of mad rush to buy Gold, jewellery and even household items this year.
Just imagine, the Indian Postal Department is selling Gold coins on this day. Tell me, what has delivering posts to do with selling Gold? And with a discount at that.
:-P
So much for it!
BTW, some people claim that the Chinese Budai or the Japananese Hotei, a.k.a. the Laughing Buddha, is actually an adaptation of the Hindu Kubera. They cite the popular belief that rubbing the belly of Budai brings wealth, good luck and prosperity, which is what the Hindu Kubera too assures to his worshippers.
Whatever, here are the images side by side -
In hindsight, I have come to believe that there is something ‘Akshaya’ or ‘self-replenishing’ on this day.
My Mischievous half murmurs, ‘If it is auspicious to buy Gold on this day, why are the jewellers and other shop keepers flogging it today, with 7% to 10% discounts? Does that mean they are good Samaritans thinking of and giving out wealth to the common people? ’
To which my Naughty half natters, ‘Aren’t the Gold and Silver merchants raking in the money this day? Isn’t it an yearly self-replenishing time for them? So, Akshaya Tritiya is a good time for them, not necessarily for others!’
And my Wicked half whispers, ‘Not so! The people madly rush to buy Gold today on the sentiment that if done so today, they’ll be able to buy Gold throughout the year - which is called ‘greed’. And as we have seen over the last decade greed seems to have become the Hallmark (no pun intended) of India, with 2010 to be crowned the year of scams!’
The day is said to be auspicious as it was on one such Akshaya Tritiya day, the Lord Kubera was enthroned as a joint custodian of wealth, along with the Goddess of Wealth, Lakshmi. The belief is that whatever is done this day, as per its name, will ‘multiply’, become ‘plentiful’, and keep ‘replenishing’.
My mother tells me that my grandmother and the wise women before her, who were rich in both the materialistic and meta-physical sense, preferred to buy dry provisions like cereals and nuts on this day.
It seems they also insisted on the women folk to plant a few vegetable seeds and that the children on this day, which usually in my part of India occurs during the annual summer vacation, sit down, study, and learn something.
My mother says that she never ever heard my grandmother on either side insist that the family queues up to buy Gold or Silver. Of course if there was an occasion to buy Gold or jewellery in near future, like a forthcoming marriage or such, then the day to buy jewellery and silk was fixed on that year’s Akshaya Tritiya. Otherwise it wasn’t considered an outright necessity to buy Gold, Silver or other precious metals on this day.
My own memories of this day also support her contention. This was a day we were told to pick up some books and study or learn something.
But of late, over the last 10 years or so, there has been this craze to buy Gold or other precious metals on this particular day.
No doubt such a belief has been actively encouraged by the precious metal merchants who are only happy to flog their wares at the slightest hint of anything auspicious. Or even inauspicious. It has become a laughing matter in Chennai that every month has its own special reason for a ‘discount’ sale, from furniture to futures, cars to cosmetics, household items to item jewellery.
It used to be that the Tamil month of ‘Aadi’ corresponding to the ‘Ashadha’ month of the Hindu calendar which falls between mid-July to mid-August was considered inauspicious for celebrations. It was a month to be spent on prayers to the Gods and generally anything new was not ventured or bought. But by announcing an unbelievable 50% discount sale during the month, the shopkeepers have turned the month into a money-raker for themselves.
If the money loving shop keepers and traders can turn an ‘inauspicious’ month like ‘Aadi’ into a roaring money-spinner, what can’t they do with a designated, accepted auspicious day, specifically termed as a ‘wealth maker’? Thus the Akshaya Tritiya day has turned out into one of mad rush to buy Gold, jewellery and even household items this year.
Just imagine, the Indian Postal Department is selling Gold coins on this day. Tell me, what has delivering posts to do with selling Gold? And with a discount at that.
:-P
So much for it!
BTW, some people claim that the Chinese Budai or the Japananese Hotei, a.k.a. the Laughing Buddha, is actually an adaptation of the Hindu Kubera. They cite the popular belief that rubbing the belly of Budai brings wealth, good luck and prosperity, which is what the Hindu Kubera too assures to his worshippers.
Whatever, here are the images side by side -
In hindsight, I have come to believe that there is something ‘Akshaya’ or ‘self-replenishing’ on this day.
My Mischievous half murmurs, ‘If it is auspicious to buy Gold on this day, why are the jewellers and other shop keepers flogging it today, with 7% to 10% discounts? Does that mean they are good Samaritans thinking of and giving out wealth to the common people? ’
To which my Naughty half natters, ‘Aren’t the Gold and Silver merchants raking in the money this day? Isn’t it an yearly self-replenishing time for them? So, Akshaya Tritiya is a good time for them, not necessarily for others!’
And my Wicked half whispers, ‘Not so! The people madly rush to buy Gold today on the sentiment that if done so today, they’ll be able to buy Gold throughout the year - which is called ‘greed’. And as we have seen over the last decade greed seems to have become the Hallmark (no pun intended) of India, with 2010 to be crowned the year of scams!’
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