Dhanteras

1. Dhanteras Dhanteras marks the beginning of the five day festivities of Diwali. The Dhanteras festival is celebrated as "Lakshmi Puja" and is performed in the evenings when tiny diyas of clay are lit to drive away the shadows of evil spirits. In this festival the bhajans and devotional songs in praise of the Goddess Lakshmi are sung and "Naivedya" of traditional sweets is offered to the Goddess. On Dhanteras, the homes that have not yet been cleaned in preparation for Diwali are thoroughly cleaned and whitewashed. The Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, is worshiped in the evening. The main entrance is decorated with colorful lanterns, holiday lights and traditional Rangoli designs are made to welcome the Goddess of wealth and prosperity. The Hindus consider this day as an extremely auspicious day to make new purchases, especially gold or silver articles and new utensils. It is believed that new"Dhan" (wealth) or some form of precious metal is a sign of good luck. In modern times, Dhanteras has come to be known as the most auspicious occasion for buying gold, silver and other metals especially kitchenware. The day also sees heavy purchases of appliances and automobiles by the devotees. Significance behind the celebration of Dhanteras On the day of Dhanteras, Goddess Lakshmi came out from the ocean of milk during the churning of the Sea (samundramanthan). Hence, Goddess Lakshmi, along with Lord Kuber is worshiped on the day of Trayodashi. According to a popular legend, when the devas and asuras performed the “Samudra manthan” for Amrita (the divine nectar of immortality), Dhanvantari (the physician of the Gods and an incarnation of Vishnu) emerged carrying a jar of the elixir on the day of Dhanteras. Legends Story An ancient legend ascribes the occasion to an interesting story about the 16-year-old son of King Hima. His horoscope predicted his death by snake-bite on the fourth day of his marriage. On that particular day, his newly-wed wife did not allow him to sleep. She laid out all her ornaments and lots of gold and silver coins in a heap at the entrance of the sleeping chamber and lit lamps all over the place. Then she narrated stories and sang songs to keep her husband from falling asleep. The next day, when Yama, the God of death arrived at the prince's doorstep in the guise of a serpent, his eyes were dazzled and blinded by the brilliance of the lamps and the jewellery. 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 the morning, he silently went away. Thus, 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.