Mumbai: On Saturday, as the city marked Akshay Tritiya celebrations, Saloni Mistry purchased jewellery for herself. Considered an auspicious day for good things, Saloni went by her mother's call to make investment on this day over any other day. While she purchased a diamond ring, some others celebrated in a way that it blesses the larger lot of people by offering season's fruit mangoes to Gods.
"My mother always says that if you have to buy something, why not buy it on a day considered auspicious instead of buying it a few days earlier or later," said the management consultant happy for being able to make her investment.
Soaring gold prices
The fact that 10 gms of gold had crossed Rs 60,000 mark did not bother her much because she was mainly going for diamonds. "There is very little gold. It is mostly diamond so the pricing did not make much of a difference. I made an investment so the gold prices did not bother me much," said the 25 year old.
However, that was not the case with respect to the market sentiments in general. Jewellery shop owners at Zaveri Bazaar said that the sales were down largely due to the high prices of gold and not as many weddings taking place. "The market has been cold since Covid. You can see that there is not much crowd. This is because the gold prices are high. It is priced at Rs 60,250 today," said Ganesh Sakapherkar, salesperson at Bherumal Shamaldas Jewellers at Zaveri Bazaar.
"The sale this year is down 25% because of the price, which is too high this time. The marriage season is not happening like it normally happens. The marriage season this year is starting after some days of Akshay Tritiya. There was also debate over Shubh Muhurat. Last year 28 tonnes of gold was sold acorss India and this time it will be around 23 tonnes," said Surendra Mehta, national secretary, India Bullion and Jewellers Association.
Mumbadevi temple celebrations
At Mumbadevi Temple, which is considered as the main deity of the city, the celebrations were of a different kind. To ensure that the crop of the season's mango is good, there was a Shringar (decoration) of Hapus mangoes. "When we offer anything to Goddess, it is with a belief it stays with us for a long time. The Shringar of Mata with Hapus mangoes has been happening for a long time on the day of Akshay Tritiya," said Hemant Jadhav, manager of Mumbadevi Temple Trust.
Things were no different at Siddhivinayak Temple. "It is a tradition to do shringar of the Lord with Hapus aam from Konkan region. This was done for the same," said a person associated with the press with the Temple.
