Also known as: Dhanatrayodashi, Dhanvantari Jayanti, Yamadeepdaan · Observed: Across India, especially North and Western India
Significance of Dhanteras
Dhanteras, short for Dhana Trayodashi, is the first day of the five-day Diwali festival. It honours two forms of wealth: the material prosperity granted by Lakshmi and Kubera, and the wealth of health granted by Lord Dhanvantari, the physician of the gods and the patron of Ayurveda. Homes are cleaned and decorated, doorways are lit, and in the evening families worship Lakshmi and Kubera for prosperity in the coming year.
Buying new metal objects, particularly gold, silver, brass or steel utensils, is considered auspicious on this day, and markets are at their busiest. Many people also buy a new broom, believed to sweep away poverty.
Legends of Dhanteras
The Puranas describe how, during the churning of the ocean of milk by the gods and asuras, Dhanvantari emerged on Trayodashi bearing a pot of amrita, the nectar of immortality, and the knowledge of medicine. Ayurvedic practitioners therefore celebrate the day as Dhanvantari Jayanti.
Another story explains the custom of Yamadeepdaan. The son of King Hima was destined to die of snakebite on the fourth day of his marriage. On that night his young wife kept him awake, piled her jewellery and coins at the door of the chamber, lit lamps all around and sang and told stories. When Yama arrived in the form of a serpent, he was dazzled by the glittering heap and sat on it listening to her songs until dawn, then departed. In remembrance, a lamp is lit facing south, the direction of Yama, on the evening of Dhanteras to ward off untimely death.
How Dhanteras Is Celebrated
In the evening, a lamp is lit at the entrance and a special four-wicked lamp of wheat flour or clay is placed facing south for Yama. Lakshmi and Kubera are worshipped with flowers, sweets and coins, and small footprints of Lakshmi are drawn with rice flour and vermilion leading into the house. In Maharashtra, dried coriander seeds pounded with jaggery are offered as naivedya. In villages, cattle are decorated and worshipped as a source of wealth. Ayurvedic institutions and physicians perform Dhanvantari puja, and the day is observed in India as National Ayurveda Day.
In South India the day is less prominent, but the Telugu states and Karnataka observe Dhana Trayodashi with Lakshmi puja, and in Tamil Nadu families prepare the Deepavali marunthu, a digestive herbal paste eaten on Deepavali morning.
How the Date Is Determined
Dhanteras falls on the Trayodashi, the thirteenth tithi, of the dark fortnight preceding Diwali. In the amanta calendar this is Ashwin Krishna Trayodashi, and in the purnimanta calendar Kartika Krishna Trayodashi. Because the Lakshmi puja and Yamadeepdaan are performed after sunset, the festival is fixed on the day when Trayodashi prevails during pradosha, the period of about two and a half hours following sunset. Diwali falls two days later, unless a tithi is skipped.
Rituals and customs
- Cleaning and decorating the home
- Buying gold, silver or new utensils
- Evening Lakshmi and Kubera puja
- Lighting a south-facing lamp for Yama (Yamadeepdaan)
- Dhanvantari puja for health
- Drawing Lakshmi's footprints at the entrance