Everything related to Dhanteras 2016
Dhanteras is considered as one of the most important Hindu religious festivals that has been celebrated around this time of the year. This festival is also known as Dhanatrayodashi, the festival which is observed all over India.
It also marks the beginning of the Tihar festival in Nepal. ‘Dhan’ means wealth and ‘teras’ means the thirteenth day of the moon cycle. The festival signifies the first day of the five-day Diwali celebrations and also falls on the thirteenth lunar day of Karthik Krishna Paksha, in the Hindu month of Kartik (October-November).
This year, Dhanteras is on October 28. Which is known as the festival of wealth, people worship Lakshmi (goddess of wealth) and Yama (god of death) on this day. It is also believed that this one-day festival is an auspicious occasion when people buy metals like gold and silver, and that doing so will further bring prosperity and good luck for the entire family and their business ventures.
How Dhanteras is celebrated?
In addition to the metals, people also buy new utensils. Colourful and intricate rangoli designs are being drawn at the entrance of houses and offices in order to welcome Lakshmi — goddess of wealth, prosperity and good luck. Commonly using the vermillion powder and rice flour, small footprints are made to further signify the glorious arrival of the goddess.
Different regions celebrate this festival differently. For instance, in some of the rural areas, farmers worship their cattle because they are their main source of income. In South India, people show reverence to cows because they are known as the incarnation of goddess Lakshmi. In Maharashtra, people offer some traditional sweets called ‘Naivedya’ made by lightly pounding dry coriander seeds with jaggery.
Read Here : Fall in price of gold and silver on the occasion of Dhanteras!
The Puja
Many devotees usually perform Lakshmi Puja on this day in the evening. They sing devotional songs and also praises to and worship Lakshmi, and light tiny diyas in the house to ward off evils.
Seven cereals including urad dal, wheat, moong dal, gram, masoor dal and barley are used while further performing puja. In a tradition known as Yamadeepdan, people worship Lord Yama by lighting lamps for the entire night. As per mythology, it was predicted that King Hima’s son will die due to a snake-bite of the fourth night of his marriage.
Upon knowing this, the prince’s wife on the said night, had taken all her gold ornaments and coins and placed them in a heap. She then she started singing melodious songs. When Yamaraj came in the form of a serpent to kill the prince, he was then blinded by the shine of the gold and melodious voice and sat dazed, thus not killing the prince. Probably, this could be the reason why people consider it a harbinger of good luck to invest in gold on this day.
Given below are the timings of Lakshmi Puja on the eve of Dhanteras
Dhanteras Puja Muhurat: 5:35 pm – 6:20 pm
Pradosh kaal: 5:35 pm – 8:21 pm
Trayodashi Tithi starts = 4:15 pm on October 27
Trayodashi Tithi ends = 6:20 pm on October 28
It is advised that Lakshmi Puja should be started only during pradosh kaal, which is the time of two hours and 24 minutes after sunset. Another very important thing to note is that the most auspicious time for the puja is when the lagna or rasi (sign) remains fixed or sthir.
