An upcoming Hindu and Jain festival that springs to mind is Akshaya Tritiya on April 19, called Akha Teej in the North. It’s traditionally believed to symbolise ‘never-diminishing’ (akshaya) prosperity, and is considered a highly auspicious day for new beginnings, investments and purchasing gold. So much so that it’s also jokingly called Indian Gold Rush Day. Rituals include prayers to Lord Vishnu, Goddess Lakshmi and Kubera, as well as acts of charity such as annadaanam or feeding people.
For Jains, it commemorates Lord Rishabhanatha ending his long fast. Rishabhanatha, also known as Adinath (First Lord), is revered by Jains as the pioneer of civilisation. He is credited in Jainism with having invented and taught fire, cooking and all the skills needed for human beings to live, including seventy-two accomplishments taught to men and sixty-four crafts taught to women, including farming and writing. The legend goes that he was born in Ayodhya to King Nabhi and Queen Marudevi, and was the first Tirthankara of the current era.
One day, Nilanjana, a dancer who was performing for Rishabhanatha and his court, suddenly collapsed and died. Nilanjana’s sudden death is said to have reminded Rishabhanatha of life’s transitory nature, jolting him to renounce his kingdom, family and material wealth. He practiced austerities for many years, traveled across the land and attained kevala jnana (omniscience) at the holy town of Prayagraj, called Purimtal in Jain texts. He is believed to have attained moksha on Mount Kailash. He established the foundational principles of the Jain faith in the remote past, according to Jain belief.
During his austerities, Rishabhanatha travelled without food for 400 days. The day on which he took his first ahara or food is celebrated by Jains as Akshaya Tritiya. In devotion to Rishabhanatha, Shvetambara Jains perform a 400-day fast, during which they eat frugally only on alternating days. This religious practice is known as Varshitap. The fast is broken on Akshaya Tritiya.
Sanatan associates Akshaya Tritiya with the birth of Lord Parashurama and the start of Treta Yuga. Also, Ganga, the great mother river, is believed to have descended to Earth on this day. Further, it is not only the day that Sri Krishna gifted the Akshaya Patra, or inexhaustible vessel of food, to the Pandavas when they were in exile in the forest but also the day that Sudama met Krishna in Dwaraka and was blessed by the Lord with great prosperity, redeeming him and his family from dire poverty. In fact, Krishna was so generous to his old schoolmate that he was about to eat a third handful of the poha that Sudama had brought for him. But Mahalakshmi, in the form of Rukmini, held Krishna’s wrist and stopped him from eating it, because just two handfuls had already bestowed unimaginable wealth on Sudama. So, Akshaya Tritiya has a formidable theological backup in the Indian belief system, with each incident being a life-affirming and faith-bolstering tale.
The deeper message in Sudama’s tale is that feeding others is like feeding god—we invite blessings and good luck upon ourselves. Hence, the importance of annadaanam on Akshaya Tritiya day. Not everyone can afford to feed strangers every day, so these special days are built into our calendar when we, too, can feel we are part of god’s plan by contributing our mite as members of an interdependent race. As you know, annadaanam is considered the greatest act of merit, which any one of us can perform according to our means, be it buying a bunch of bananas for the cobbler or street children or treating office workers like the liftman, guards, peons and clerks to fruit or sweets, maybe both. As always, our Indian beliefs are based on our ancestors’ observation of nature and its many moods and cycles. Akshaya Tritiya is thus revered as a day when the sun and moon are at their peak brightness, making it a powerful day for spiritual growth and prosperity in popular belief.
The dark side of Akshaya Tritiya was that mass marriages of children were performed on this day. From what I could gather, child marriages on Akha Teej have still not completely stopped across India, but have greatly declined after facing strong legal crackdowns.
While the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 made such marriages illegal nationwide, the practice continues in some rural pockets due to deep-rooted social customs. This law replaced the older Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929. It introduced stricter penalties, including up to two years of imprisonment and fines of up to ₹1 lakh for those organising or promoting child marriages.
A landmark ruling by the Rajasthan High Court in 2024 held village heads personally responsible for preventing child marriages in their jurisdictions. This reportedly created a ‘domino effect’, leading to the prevention of over 10,000 child marriages during Akha Teej that year which, disturbingly, was but two years ago. The good news is that some villages in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have apparently achieved ‘child marriage-free’ status on Akha Teej through intensive community awareness programs and local volunteer work. Indian society is on the alert and not afraid to clean out its cobwebs. It has the courage to do so because it owns its religion, while holding fast to all the meaning and beauty that it is so rich in. Meanwhile, happy Baisakhi, Pohela Boisakh, Vishu and Puthandu, dear readers. May we all be blessed, of whichever faith or no faith.
Renuka Narayanan | FAITHLINE | Senior journalist
(Views are personal)
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