2017
Friday, 28 April 2017
In 2017 the tithi runs from 10:29 am on 28 Apr to 6:55 am on 29 Apr. It covers 110 of the 396 minutes of the purvahna on 28 Apr. On 29 Apr it is there only from sunrise, for 74 minutes, less than three muhurtas (144 minutes), and a tithi that short does not own the day†; so Friday, 28 April 2017 is taken.
2018
Wednesday, 18 April 2018
In 2018 the tithi runs from 3:45 am on 18 Apr to 1:29 am on 19 Apr. It covers the whole purvahna (5:52 am–12:20 pm) on Wednesday, 18 April 2018, so that is the day of Akshaya Tritiya.
How the date is fixed
Akshaya Tritiya falls on the third day of the bright half of the lunar month Vaishakha (Shukla Tritiya). The date is the day whose purvahna, the forenoon (sunrise to midday) the tithi covers completely. If it covers only part of it on two days, the day on which it covers more of that period is taken†. A day that has the tithi only from sunrise, for less than three muhurtas (2 hours 24 minutes), does not count†.
† Practice varies between schools; our faculty is reviewing these rules.
About
Akshaya Tritiya is the third tithi of the bright half of Vaishakha, in late April or May. Muhurta tradition counts it among the sade-teen muhurtas, days on which no separate muhurta need be sought, which is why weddings and new ventures cluster on it. The day is the one on which Tritiya holds the forenoon (purvahna, sunrise to midday). When Tritiya touches the forenoon on two days, the day with more of it is taken, except that a day which has Tritiya only from sunrise, for less than three muhurtas (2 hours 24 minutes), does not count; some almanacs keep that sunrise day all the same. When Tritiya is also joined with Rohini nakshatra the day is considered complete. It is also Parashurama Jayanti, the day the Badrinath shrine reopens, and the start of the Chandan Yatra at Puri.
How it is observed
Charity of water, grain and fans in the heat, worship of Vishnu and Lakshmi, and the buying of gold as a modern custom.