The Festival of Dhan Teras
Have you seen your family following a ritual of buying gold or silver jewellery or simply some utensils two days prior to Diwali? If you have and you thought that it was part of Diwali celebrations, then you are about to discover a new fact. This festival, two days prior to Diwali definitely adds to the excitement and zeal of Diwali but it is actually the festival of Dhanteras.
Dhan refers to money in Sanskrit and Teras is a reference to the time of year when the festival falls that is the 13th day of the month of Ashwin as per the Hindu calendar. There are certain legends associated with the festival which make a reference to significance of Dhanteras as the festival of wealth and money. Hence, buying precious metals which are a form of Dhan (Money) is considered an auspicious exercise.
Legends of Dhanteras
In India every festival comes steeped in legends which add to the charm and mysticism of the festival. Lending an ear to these tales many a times leave people awe-struck.
The legend of Dhanteras bears a relation to the son of one ancient king Hima. After being acquainted with the fact that her husband is doomed to die on the 4th day of their marriage, the daughter- in -law of king Hima decided to save her husband. She collected all the precious ornaments and left them in a heap at the entrance of their bedroom and lighted the entire place with lamps. Then, she kept her husband occupied by singing him melodious songs and preventing him from sleeping, fearing he might sleep forever. When Yama (the God of death) came in the form of a serpent he was blinded with lights and he kept sitting at the heap of ornaments (serpents have special attraction to precious ornaments) listening to melodious songs of the wife. In the morning he went away quietly leaving the husband unharmed.
Another important legend associated with the festival is that Indra due to his rising glory became proud that is why Lakshmi (goddess of prosperity) left him. He was soon attacked by demons and was utterly defeated on every side. According to the plan of Indra’s teacher Brihaspati, the sea of milk was churned by both devtas (Gods) and demons for amrit (holy nector). Goddess Lakshmi appeared out of the sea carrying a lotus and pardoned Indra. Then finally Dhanvantari emerged out of the sea and carrying the holy nectar which Vishnu managed to give to the Devtas. Since then, the festival is celebrated to mark the emergence of Lakshmi.
Dhanteras Celebrations in India
Dhanteras is mostly celebrated in the North-India. The festival like most of Indian festivals is marked with a traditional puja. Making interesting Rangoli patterns is another major attraction of the festival. In some of the households rice flour and vermilion powder are used to draw small footprints which apparently signify arrival of Goddess Lakshmi. These traditional ways of celebrating the festival have changed and evolved over the time. If we may bother to notice, each and every legend or ritual of this festival has its base in importance of wealth. Indra being proud of his wealth, churning of ocean to obtain precious nector, Hima’s daughter in law using precious ornaments to save her husband. If we may try and take a lesson from each of these legends, we will soon learn that both material and spiritual wealth is of importance to us. The festival is not about following the customs associated with it blindly, it is about learning a new lesson and way to live a better life.
Hence, Dhanteras should be a festival when we should introspect our inner selves and find out if we are as eager to increase our spiritual wealth as we are to double our material wealth. Then only can we celebrate the festival in its true essence.
No comments:
Post a Comment