Odisha celebrates agrarian festival ‘Akshaya Tritiya’

Bhubaneswar: 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.