Bhubaneswar: Akshaya Tritiya is considered an auspicious festival for people of Odisha, which is observed on the third tithi of shuka paksha of Vaisakha month of the traditional Hindu calendar. The festival date falls in April or May month of every year.
Agrarian festival ‘Akshaya Tritiya’ is being celebrated across Odisha today with farmers performing ‘Akhi Muthi Anukula’, the ceremonial act of sowing seeds in their paddy fields after ploughing. The occasion marks the commencement of agricultural works.
As per rituals, farmers wearing new clothes carry a decorated basket of seeds to their fields where the seeds are offered to Goddess Lakshmi praying for a rich harvest season.
The festival also marks the beginning of ‘Chandan Jatra’ of deities at several shrines in Odisha. The construction of chariots for Ratha Jatra of Lord Jagannath and His siblings in Puri also starts from today.
The day of ‘Akshaya Tritiya’ is considered to be auspicious for new beginnings like weddings, buying property, making investments, etc. It is believed that things started on the day of Akshaya Tritiya continue to grow and prosper.
Akshaya Tritiya is considered to be the day of the birth of Lord Parasurama, the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. It is also considered to be the day when Ved Vyasa and Lord Ganesha started writing the Mahabharata.
In Odisha, it is also the day when Hindus begin their annual construction of chariots for the Puri Rath Yatra festivities. Also known as ‘Gandhalepana Yatra’, Chandan Yatra is the longest festival observed at Jagannath Temple in Puri. It continues for 42 days and observed in two parts: ‘Bahara Chandana’ and ‘Bhitara Chandana’.
Bahara Chandana starts from Akshay Tritiya and continues for 21 days. The representative idols of the main deities of the Jagannath Temple as well as five ‘Shivalingas’ known as the ‘Pancha Pandava’ are taken in a ceremonial procession from the ‘Singhadwara’ (Lions Gate) of the Jagannath Temple in Puri to the Narendra Tirtha tank. After various rituals, the deities are taken to the Narendra pond located near the Jagannath Temple and are placed on grandly decorated boats for an evening cruise of the tank.
As per the tradition, the temple servitors will perform a special ritual at the Rath Khala (chariot making yard) and bring Angya Mala (garland signifying directive from the deity) seeking his command and place the same on three pieces of woods. The chief carpenters of the three chariots will symbolically touch the gold axe on the three wooden logs after which they would shape the logs.
Interestingly, nearly 100 carpenters would be engaged for making the three gigantic chariots, 45-feet-high Nandighosha for Lord Jagannath, 44-feet-high Taladhwaja for Balabhadra and 43-feet-high Debadalana for Subhadra.
