Dhanteras: What it is and why it is celebrated
Dhanteras: What it is and why it is celebrated
India is the land of festivals and as the most important in her astonishingly diverse array of festivals – Diwali, approaches lets take a closer look at the first part of Diwali’s five-day festivities, Dhanteras.
It is widely known that Dhanteras is the day to buy metal, be it gold or silver. But the bigger question is what is Dhanteras? And why is it celebrated?
To begin with, the term Dhanteras is derived from two words, Dhan meaning money and Teras meaning 13th day. This is because Dhanteras is celebrated on the 13th day of Krishnapaksha or dark fortnight, two days before Diwali. As is the pre-requisite with most Hindu festivals, Dhanteras has a mythical story behind why it is celebrated today.
As the story goes, Dhanteras is celebrated on the day a young princess saved her husbands life from Yamaraj – the God of death by stacking their house with a sparkling collection of metal objects and divas. Blinded by the brightness, Yamaraj couldn’t enter their house hence saving the princess’ husband from certain death. It is a belief in this story that has led to the creation of a tradition where husbands buy metal objects for their wives on this day.
With years gone by, the true essence of why Dhanteras is celebrated has been diluted to a certain extent. While the main reason to celebrate this day should be to safeguard the lives of your loved ones, today the focus falls mainly on what metal items can one purchase at NO MRP, NO Fixed Price, which on most occasions is jewellery. Jewellery shops selling BIS Hallmarked gold stay open till late in the night to make sales to the never-ending stream of customers.
In case you decide to skip your plans to shop for 22KT gold in cumbersome crowds, karatcraft.com provides the perfect solution. Our array of diverse jewellery is available for purchase online where you can select your favourite products peacefully with your family without losing out on the experience of shopping with your family jeweler.
May the Goddess Laxmi grant you a happy, healthy and prosperous Dhanteras 2013.
