Dhanteras 2022: History and why is this day celebrated with so much gold

Dhanteras marks the beginning of the Diwali festivities with the worship of Goddess Lakshmi, Lord Kuber and Dhanvantri. Know the religious significance of Dhanteras.

Dhanteras 2022: The festivities of Diwali will begin by the end of this week with Dhanteras being the first day of celebration. Diwali has a 5-day festive calendar and is celebrated with lots of cheer and lights across India, with homes sparkling with lights, diyas and colourful rangolis.

This year the auspicious occasion of 'Dhanteras' will be celebrated on October 22nd, Saturday when you will see people buying new utensils, jewellery and also house brooms. Dhanteras falls on the thirteenth day of the Hindu month of Krishna Paksha. Let's take a look at the religious significance of Dhanteras and the historical relevance of the day.

Dhanteras 2022: Significance

One of the major episodes in Hinduism that is elaborated in the Vishnu Purana, a significant Hindu text is the 'Samudra Manthana' which explains the origin of the elixir of eternal life, Amrit. Among the 14 things that emerged from the 'churning of the seas' one of them was Lord Dhanvantri carrying a Kalash full of the Amrit in one hand and the sacred scriptures about Ayurveda in the other.

Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Kuber are also worshipped on this day.

Dhanteras 2022: History

The historical significance of Dhanteras goes back to ancient times when a mighty king Hima, was a fair ruler and took care of the kingdom like his own family with lots of love and warmth. Later, when king Hima had a son, the saints predicted that his son would face death at the hands of a serpent in the sixteenth year of his life.

This made king Hima worry about the future of his child and that of his kingdom which led him to find all means of saving his son's life. At the advice of astrologers, Hima got his son wedded to a girl who had a "lucky horoscope". The couple lived happily for a long time and when Hima's son turned 16 years old, his "lucky" wife made a strategy to hinder the Lord of death from entering the house and taking her husband's life. 

The wife stayed up all night with her husband in tow, gathered all her jewellery and decorations including diyas and piked everything near the entrance by lighting every diya in the house. 

When the God of death, Lord Yamraj came to take the boy's life in the form of a snake he was blinded by the brightness of the diyas which prevented him from entering the house. The wife kept humming and singing sweet songs in her melodic voice all night long with her husband. Yamraj too was captivated by the singing and the time of Hima's son's death passed considering which death turned his way backwards and the king's son lived on.

This Dhanteras buy useful items but make sure to discard things which are dated or have no use in your home. Diwali should be happy for all so share the joy and happiness this Dhanteras and Diwali.