Dhanteras 2024 Festival : Meaning, Significance, Importance & History

Lakshmi Pooja should be done during Pradesh Kaal, which starts after sunset and last up to 2 hours and 24 minutes. Choghadiya Muhurat is not good for the dhanteras puja and it is good only for travelling. Stir Lagna is the best time for Lakshmi Puja on Dhanteras.

The puja is done during their Lagna; Lakshmi Ji will stay in your home, therefore it is the best time for Lakshmi puja.

Meaning of this festival

Dhanteras is originally known as ‘dhanvantri trayodashi’ not only heralds the Diwali festival but also forms an integral part of Diwali celebrations. The word ‘dhanteras’ is derived from the word ‘Dhan’ which means wealth and ‘teras’ which is the propitious thirteenth day occurring at the fag end of Ashwin month.

How it is celebrated

For Hindus, dhanteras festival marks the big occasion for buying silver or gold or steel utensils which denotes the grace of goddess Lakshmi on people’s lives. The purchase of new things is dedicated to goddess Lakshmi and lord kuber, who are believed to bring fortune tidings, immense wealth and prosperity in people’s life. People customarily buy gold and silver coins on this day.

Dhanteras celebration in India is renowned for its grand scale of festivity. While the houses, offices, and shops are decorated in the festive mood with flowers, lighting, and rangolis, beautiful diyas are placed at the entrance for good luck and prosperity. People offer greetings and gifting is also important rituals during dhanteras.

On this day, the people clean and decorate their houses and make goddess Lakshmi’s little feet with the rice flour at the entrance of the house and make a path from the main entrance to the temple inside the home. This shows that the goddess Lakshmi is coming inside the house on her feet. Make beautiful rangoli at the entrance and lit a Deepak for Lord Yama in the south direction of the house. Some people keep fast on this day while some only do Pooja in the evening after sunset.

In the evening while doing the Pooja, devotees place seven types of grain in front of the goddess Lakshmi idol or picture and take the blessings from her for prosperity and happiness in life. The special offerings to goddess Lakshmi are puris and sweets and panchamrit, it is a mixture of honey, ghee, sugar, yoghurt, milk.

History of this festival

Indian festivals have some stories behind the festival, dhanteras has a legend associated with them. Though there are a couple of stories associated with it, however, the story of the 16-year-old son of King Hima is perhaps the most popular one. It is said that as per his horoscope, he was destined to die by a snake bite on the fourth day of his marriage.

On the fourth day of his marriage, his young wife did not allow him to sleep. She built a heap of her gold ornaments and silver coins at the entrance of their bedroom and lighted innumerable lamps all over the place. she ensured each corner of the room was well-lit and that there were no dark corners. To keep him wide awake, she sang songs and narrated stories.

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