"The imperishable third" — a day considered so auspicious that no muhurta (astrological timing) is needed to begin something on it; anything started today, tradition holds, endures. Marked by buying gold and opening new ventures, and by the ceremonial opening of the Kedarnath temple doors for the pilgrimage season.
वैशाख शुक्ल तृतीया
Tradition also credits the day with the start of Ved Vyasa's dictation of the Mahabharata to Ganesha, and with the Pandavas receiving the Akshaya Patra — an inexhaustible vessel of food — from Surya during their exile.
Jewelers see some of the year's highest sales as families buy gold or silver. In Odisha, the day also marks the start of construction on the year's Rath Yatra chariots at Puri.