Chennai, April 20 (PTI): People started thronging jewellery and consumer durable shops right from early morning to purchase on the auspicious Akshaya Trithiya day today, as they believed that purchases made on this day would bring prosperity for the entire year.

Legend has it that it was on this day Lord Krishna presented a gold vessel to Pandavas during their exile, which provided them umlimited food.

In Chennai, many shops remained open till midnight yesterday as the auspicious day started last evening itself and spilled over till 10.30 AM today.

People made a beeline infront of shops right from yesterday and those who could not afford to purchase big jewellery items, picked up gold coins or nose rings, silver lamps and anklets, Anathapadmanaban, a leading jeweller here, said.

Yesterday's sales was 15 per cent more compared to normal days, he said.

People also purchased mobile handsets, washing machines and TV sets as the consumer durable shops offered attractive discounts and gifts. Almost all major mobile hand set sellers offered one or two gram gold coins for purchase of handsets.

Sale of gold on Akshaya Trithiya day last year was 20 tonnes and this was likely to go up by at least 20 per cent this year, World Gold Council sources said. Shops had made elaborate arrangements to handle the crowd and police had taken steps for the smooth flow of traffic in the busy areas of the city.

Banks had pitched in a big way this year and were selling gold coins. Indian bank, ICICI and UTI banks are selling gold coins varying from two grams to eight grams in their branches and had even offered concessions to their depositers.