Dhanteras: History, Importance and Significance of the festival
Dhanteras is celebrated during the cold winter months. It is a festival that is mostly recognized as the festival marking the coming of Diwali. But what is it truly? What is its significance? Let us delve a little deeper to understand this highly popular yet highly unknown festival.
Dhanteras or Dhanatrayodashi or Dhanvantari Trayodashi is the first day that marks the five-day celebrations of Diwali. Dhanteras marks the festival of Diwali in India. But it marksmthe festival of Tihar in Nepal.
Dhanvantari, the god of Ayurveda imparted this sacred and divine knowledge to mankind for the betterment of humanity. The impartation of this knowledge was done on this day, dubbed as Dhanteras. The benevolent deity is worshipped on this auspicious day.
Tiny diyas are lit to remove the shadows of evil spirits and ‘Lakshmi Puja’ is performed in the evening. People clean their houses and Goddess of wealth is worshipped in the evening. The entrance of the home are decorated with lanterns, lights and rangolis.There is also a ritual of keeping burning diya throughout the night of Dhanteras in honor of Lakshmi and Dhanvantari.
This day is considered to be auspicious for buying new items, mostly gold. In modern times, most shops announce a sale during this festival because of its economically auspicious nature.
A Diya is offered to Yama as well. Yama is the god of death. This ritual is practiced in order to advert death. In villages, farmers mostly worship their cattle. The reason being that the cattle is their main source of income. The Indian ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy, announced its decision to observe Dhanteras, as the ‘National Ayurveda Day’ which was first observed on 28 October 2016.
Prior to the festival of lights, we wish you a very happy and prosperous Dhanteras.
