Happy Dhanteras: Date, History, Significance and Celebrations

The word ‘Dhanteras’ comes from ‘Dhan’ meaning wealth and ‘Teras’ which means thirteen.

What is Dhanteras? 

Dhanteras is a Hindu festival that falls on the thirteenth lunar day of Krishna Paksha in the Hindu calendar. Dhanteras is known to be one of the most auspicious days and one of the biggest festivals for Hindus.

So to know about Dhanteras Date 2021, History and Legend, Celebrations and Significance keep reading this article till the end!

Dhanteras Date 2021

The day usually falls 1-2 days before Diwali. This year, the festival falls on the 2nd of November, Tuesday.

History

There are many legends behind the festival of Dhanteras. Some of them are as follows.

Story of King Hima

There is a very interesting story behind Dhanteras, and people worship King Yamaraja on this day. According to popular tales, the horoscope of a king’s son predicted that he would die on the fourth day of the wedding after being bitten by a snake. So on the fourth day of his marriage, his wife decided to change her destiny. She was telling stories to keep him awake and not to let him sleep.

To attract the snake, she placed all the ornaments and coins at the door of the pile. The god of death came in the disguise of a snake. He was blinded by all the glittering jewelry and coins. Yama could not enter the Prince’s chamber, so he climbed on top of the heap of gold coins and sat there the entire night listening to the stories and songs.  In this way, the serpent could not enter the prince’s room. Then the snake left the palace peacefully in the morning and her husband could escape death.

In this way, the young prince was saved from the clutches of death by the cleverness of his new bride, and the day came to be celebrated as Dhanteras.

Dhanteras in Jainism

Jain people celebrate this day as DHANYATERAS instead of DHANTERAS meaning auspicious day of the thirteenth. According to beliefs on this day Mahavira was in the state of leaving everything in this world and meditating before Moksha which made this day auspicious or ‘dhanya’.

Story Of Lord Dhanvantari

Another interesting story features Lord Dhanvantari, who is the physician of the Gods and an incarnation of Lord Vishnu who came out of an ocean. Lord Dhanvantari emerged during Samudra Manthan(churning of the ocean), holding a Kalasha full of Amrit in one hand and the sacred text about Ayurveda in the other hand. He is the Vaidya (doctor) of Gods.

Dhanteras Celebrations

On Dhanteras Hindus worship the Lord Dhanvantari. ^{People conduct Lakshmi Puja in the evenings and lit Diyas. They also worship Lord Dhanvantari, the god of health, and Ayurveda. They sing Bhajans in praise of Goddess Lakshmi and offer traditional sweets to the Goddess.}

On Dhanteras, people thoroughly clean and whitewash their homes to welcome goddess Laxmi. They decorate the main entrance with colorful lanterns, holiday lights, and make traditional Rangoli designs to welcome the Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity. Also, to indicate her long-awaited arrival, they draw small footprints with rice flour and vermilion powder all over the house. 

Hindus consider this an extremely auspicious day for making new purchases. Especially they buy gold or silver articles and new utensils on this day. Because the new “Dhan” (wealth) or some item made of precious metal is a sign of good luck. There are heavy purchases of appliances and automobiles as well.

Hindus decorate their house with colorful diyas.On this night, people place diyas beneath the Tulsi plant and also in front of the doorways of homes. This light is an offering to Yama, the Host of Death, to avert untimely death during the time of the Diwali festival.

Significance

This day is a celebration aiming at increasing wealth and prosperity. People thoroughly clean their houses and ask for Goddess Lakshmi’s blessings. All the bazaars and streets are well lit and sparkling and there is so much life and color all around. On this day, people purchase utensils and jewelry to bring good luck. Further, they decorate their houses with lights, rangolis and diyas to keep the evil forces and negative energy away.

On this auspicious occasion of Dhanteras, may there be an abundant shower of wealth in your life, and may the light of success covers your life beautifully.

Dailyroabox family wishes you a Happy and Prosperous Dhantrayodashi/Dhanteras.

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