Akshay Navmi
What it is
Akshay Navmi, also called Amla Navami or Aonla Navami, falls on Kartik Sud 9. "Akshay" means imperishable, and the day is traditionally associated with the amla (Indian gooseberry) tree, worshipped and sat beneath, and with charitable giving, both believed to yield merit that does not decay. It closes out the run of Kartik-month observances that began with Diwali and Annakut.
Kartik itself is considered an especially auspicious month for worship and charity in the wider Hindu calendar, and Akshay Navmi sits near its heart.
Why we observe it
The word "akshay" — undecaying — is worth sitting with in a Pushtimarg frame: it names exactly what seva offered with real bhav is meant to be, unlike wealth or pleasure which are spent and gone. A gift given, a kirtan sung, a remembrance held on this day is traditionally understood to carry that same quality of not running out.
For a Vaishnav, Akshay Navmi is a fitting quiet close to the Kartik cluster: after the light of Diwali and the abundance of Annakut, a day about what actually lasts, given rather than kept.