Dhanteras 2021: Here's why people buy gold, silver, and utensils on this day?

The five-day festival of lights, Diwali, is around the corner. The first day of celebration is called Dhanteras, where people worship Goddess Lakshmi. Also known as Dhanatrayodashi, this festival is usually observed with great enthusiasm because it is considered to be one of the most important among all Hindu festivals.

The festival of Dhanteras, this year, will be marked today, 2 November. As per Hindu beliefs, during these auspicious days, Goddess Lakshmi visits devotees’ homes to bless them with wealth, prosperity, and good health. Furthermore, to welcome the goddess, people participate in pujas and light diyas around the house.

Apart from performing sacred pujas, one of the key highlights and objectives of Dhanteras is that people purchase gold and silver items typically in the form of jewelry along with some utensils made of steel and brass.

During this auspicious time, devotees around the country adore and worship Lord Kuber and Goddess Lakshmi. They both are known to be the god and goddess of wealth.

According to Hindu mythology, Goddess Lakshmi emerged from the ocean with a pot of gold in her hands during the churning of the sea, which is also known as samudra manthan. So, to be blessed by her, people invest in gold during this time so that their prosperity increases in the coming year.

According to another story, it was prophesied that the son of King Hima would die of a snake bite on the fourth day of his marriage. To prove this wrong the his wife did not allow him to sleep all night. She placed all her ornaments in a basket and kept them near the door at night. Along with that, she placed a few lamps around it.

Furthermore, to keep him awake, the wife kept singing and telling him stories all night so as to keep her husband alert. When Lord Yama, the God of Death came to take King Hima's son’s life in the form of a serpent, he was amazed by all the lights and stopped at the door. Following that, Lord Yama, who could not enter the house, left the couple alone. So keeping with the tradition, people buy gold and silver on Dhanteras so as to protect themselves and their loved ones from all harm, danger, and negativity.

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