Dhanteras, also known as Dhanatrayodashi, is the first day that marks the coming of the festival o Diwali. If we are to check it on the lunar calendar, Dhanteras is celebrated on the thirteenth lunar day of the Krishna Paksha.

Throughout India, Lakshmi Puja is done at this time. Lakshmi is the Goddess of wealth, and ‘dhan’ means wealth for which the Goddess is prayed to and given offerings on this day.

Some special rituals are done to perform Lakshmi Puja in the evenings. Lamps of clay with oil-dipped wicks (‘diya’) are lit to drive away the shadows of evil spirits. Religious songs, or ‘bhajans’, are sung to praise the Goddess. She is offered a special kind of traditional sweet known as ‘Naivedya’. This sweet is customary to be offered, especially in Maharashtra. It is prepared by lightly pounding dry coriander seeds with jaggery.

Since people go for a cleaning of their houses every year in preparation for Diwali, it usually begins at Dhanteras as well. There are lanterns put up around the house, holiday lights, rangolis designed to welcome the Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity. On the night of Dhanteras, lamps are kept burning through the night to honour Lakshmi and Dhanvantari.

Even small footprints of the Goddess are drawn in various parts of the house with rice flour and vermillion to mark her arrival.

In modern times, Dhanteras has become associated with the most auspicious time to buy precious metals. You would see the advertisements for Dhanteras offer from jewellery shops or even kitchenware shops to celebrate the occasion. There is also an increased sale of automobiles and appliances at this time. 

The reason for this could be because of an ancient legend which is about the prediction of the death of a 16-year-old son of King Hima whose horoscope predicted that he would die by a snake bite on the fourth day of his marriage. With knowledge of this story, his newly wedded wife did not allow him to sleep that night. 

She laid down all her ornaments, coins of gold and silver in a heap at the entrance and also lit lamps all over the chamber. She kept her husband awake by narrating stories to him and singing him songs all night. 

The God of Death, Yama, is said to have arrived to take the young prince away in the form of a serpent but Yama was so blinded by the brightness that he could not enter the chamber and spent the night at the entrance, listening to the new bride. He went away in the morning and the prince was saved for the cleverness of his wife. 

It is also said that Goddess Lakshmi came out from the ocean of milk during the churning of the sea for which she is also worshipped. Dhanvantari, or the Hindu god of medicine, is also said to have emerged on the day of Dhanteras because of Lakshmi’s actions.

This is why it is also National Ayurveda Day on Dhanteras.