Significance Of Celebrating Dhanteras

India is a country that celebrates a lot of festivals, and some of them extend for more than 2 days. Navratri, Diwali, etc., are some of those extended festivals, which fill our lives with fun, happiness and laughter. Diwali is a five-day long festival of the Hindus, which begins with the Dhanteras festival. Dhanteras falls in the month of Kartik (Oct-Nov), and it is the thirteenth day of the dark fortnight.

The festival of Diwali starts with this occasion and on the fifteenth day, that is Amavasya, Diwali is celebrated. 'Dhanteras' is also known as 'Dhanvantri Triodasi', as it falls on the 13th lunar day of the Krishna Paksha of Kartik masam. Every year, on Dhanteras, people buy jewelleries or metals, and specifically, people prefer to buy gold and silver ornaments on this auspicious day.

Significance :

1. Meaning Of ‘Dhanteras': ‘Dhanteras' means wealth. In many households, Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesh are worshipped together for the wealth, well-being and prosperity of the family. Gold and silver are considered to be auspicious and people worship them too.

2. Welcoming Of Goddess Lakshmi: As wealth symbolises Goddess Lakshmi, people buy new items, jewelleries and silver utensils on this day. This means that they're welcoming Goddess Lakshmi and are worshipping her for opulence and success.

3. Story Of Yamadeepan: King Heema's young son was destined to be dead by snake bite on the fourth day of his marriage. To save the husband's life, his wife kept him awake on that day and prepared a large heap of gold and silver coins. She also lit numerous diyas. When Yama, the god of death, appeared, his eyes were bedazzled with the gloryof the diyas and coins and he couldn't see anything. Thus, Yama had to return. Thus, on Dhanteras, the clever wife saved her husband from death. From that day, diyas and candles are lit up the whole night to show respect to Lord Yama.

4. Story Of Amrit Manthan: According to another myth, on the day of Dhanteras, the jar of elixir (amrit) came out from the Ksheer Sagar after the churning (manthan) of it by gods and demons. This signifies that celebrating Dhanteras also brings long life to you.

5. Worshipping Lord Kuber: Lord Kuber is the ‘Yaksha' who is known as the protector of wealth. If you worship Lord Kuber on Dhanteras, your wealth will not only flourish, but it will also be protected by the blessings of Lord Kuber.

6. Story Of Goddess Parvati: There is another story, associated to Dhanteras. On this day, Goddess Parvati played dice with her husband, Lord Shiva, and won. From that incident, it is believed that if you play dice, cards or gamble on this day, your wealth will be doubled. Now, you know the importance of celebrating Dhanteras. It is a very popular festival in India, which commences the festival of lights, Diwali.