Akshay Tritiya
What it is
Akshay Tritiya, also called Akha Trij, falls on Vaishakh Sud 3, the third day of the bright fortnight of Vaishakh, as summer settles over the land. 'Akshay' means that which never diminishes: japa, daan, seva and punya done on this day are held to be imperishable, which is why it is counted among the most auspicious tithis of the year, needing no muhurat for a good beginning. Tradition remembers it as the day the Treta Yuga began and as the jayanti of Bhagwan Parashuram; in Vraj it is the one day of the year when the charan of Shri Banke Bihariji are revealed for darshan.
In Pushtimarg havelis this day is the Chandan Yatra — the full beginning of the summer (ushnakal) seva. Sandalwood is ground fine, blended with kesar, baras and rose, and offered on Prabhu's shri-anga to cool him; heavy vastra give way to light summer garments in white, pink and champai shades; khas screens, fountains and cooling sherbets enter the seva. From Dolotsav onward the winter routine has been slowly retiring — on Akshay Tritiya, the summer seva arrives in full.
Why we observe it
Pushtimarg seva turns entirely on one thought: Prabhu's sukh. As the Vaishakh sun grows fierce over Vraj, the Vaishnav's heart can think only of the child Shrinathji feeling the heat — so chandan for his limbs, khas and fountains for his rooms, fine malmal for his vastra, cooling bhog for his thal. Akshay Tritiya is the day this tenderness takes over the whole seva, and that is its deepest teaching: love notices the season before the calendar does.
The tithi's own promise deepens the bhav — whatever is offered to Prabhu today becomes akshay, imperishable. A moment of smaran, a small daan, one kirtan sung with love: none of it is ever lost, for it has been placed in hands from which nothing of ours ever perishes. Many Vaishnavs begin new seva, manoraths or good works on this day, trusting that what begins in Prabhu's name will not wither. The prayer of Akha Trij is simple and vast at once: may my nishtha in Shrinathji be akshay — undiminishing through every season of life.