People celebrate Dhanteras along with their family member.
Diwali is the most prestigious festival celebrated till date. Dhanteras comes prior to the Diwali festival on the 13th day of the lunar calendar. In the month of Karthik according to the lunar calendar the Krishna Paksh is often known as Dhanteras.
The word Dhan means wealth. Similarly in Nepal the festival name Tihar is also the Dhanteras. Tihar is the 13th lunar day. Summing up the two it means the 13th day of the lunar day. Different parts of India celebrate different types of Dhanteras. The common factor is being Lord Lakshmi and buying gold silver and utensils.
Dhanvantari who gets worshiped on the occasion of Dhanteras. It is said to be the god of Ayurveda who helps mankind for their betterment in health. It also save people from different diseases. Under the criteria of Indian Ministry of Ayurveda Yoga Siddha and homeopathic this day Dhanteras is also observed at times as national Ayurveda day. It was also celebrated for the first time on 28 October 2016.
why people celebrate Dhanteras before diwali
The beginning of Diwali festival the first day as Dhanteras is also worshiped where by cow and her Calf are the most respected deity. It is said that the cow is sacred in vedic culture. Gau Mata is worshiped as Vasu Baras.
The story behind Dhanteras is that Lord Dhanvantari emerged from Samudra Manthan. At the time when Devdas and Asur were fighting. From the Samudra Manthan a kalash full of Amrit emerged. Amrit is basically the drink to become immortal. Dhanvantari holding Amrit in one hand and Ayurveda text in the second. The day is open celebrated with Lakshmi Pujan.
In the evening people let the diyas In the evening people let Diya and candles. People Sing different songs and bhajans to praise god lakshmi. Different types of sweets are offered on this day.
why people celebrate Dhanteras and clean their home
During the time of Dhanteras homes get cleaned. Since it’s also welcoming for Diwali people clean their home and do whitewash. Lord Dhanvantari gets worshiped in the evening. Kids at home make different designs of Rangoli. Also letting the candles and diyas in order to welcome the Goddesses of wealth and prosperity.
People decorate their main entrance of the house from flower candles etc. On the night of Dhanteras people leave their houses and different rooms with light. In order to welcome Lord Lakshmi at home, different states celebrated in their own way.
In India all the festivals are linked mythologically. There is also one interesting story behind Dhanteras.
The story behind Dhanteras
It is believed that King Hema was the ruling king. King Hema The Astrologer said that he will die after the 4th day of marriage. After hearing this prediction from the priest his wife got frightened. She thought about different things and what’s gonna be the next step.
Later on shetook out all her ornaments made up of gold and silver. She kept it in a container in the sleeping chamber. Later on at night she lit diyas and lamps in the room. At the time when Lord Of Death arrived.
He came as a Serpent. Being a Serpent it blinded his eyes while seeing shining jewelleries under the brightness of lamp. Instead of killing the king he said on the pile of jewelleries. He start listening to the stories which were told by the king’s wife. Later on the Yamraj had to go back without taking the life of the king.
The next day of this occasion is celebrated as Dhanteras. On this day people keep their family members safe. They save their family members from forthcoming hands of death and lit oil lamps.
Is one more story behind this occasion of Dhanteras.
There was a time when this age name dhruvasa curse Indradev. Indra was the god of rain and the God of gods. Durvasa said that the pride and wealth which gets over your head will eventually leave you. Later on Lord Lakshmi left the Swarg Lok. The place where all the Gods reside.
Later on after some years Demons entered into heaven. They start taking over the Gods. lord indra then went to lord vishnu in order to give him a solution. Then lord vishnu told him to churn the ocean and drink amrit .
Amrit will make them immortal. Both the gods and demons started churning the ocean. It’s the mandar mountain. Lord Vishnu came in his tortoise avatar and lifted the mandar mountain at his back.
Vasuki was the rope for covering such a big mountain from both sides. As the churning process started a lady came out from it. Holding a lotus in one hand goddess Lakshmi came out of it. All the sage and saint started chanting hymns. After it lord laxmi puja is performed by lighting the candle.
Dhanteras is a grand festival celebrated in india. It is the auspicious day comes two days prior to the Diwali.