Dhanteras (17th October 2017): Puja Vidhi, Muhurat & Significance

According to the Hindu calendar, Dhanteras falls on the 13th day of Krishna Paksha during the month of Kartik (‘Dhan’ means wealth and ‘teras’ means thirteenth). The festival, which is also popularly known as Yamadeepdaan, is always celebrated across the country two days before Diwali and thus marks the beginning of the festival.

There is a popular belief that when the Demons and the Gods were churning the ocean for the pot of nectar, it was Dhanvantari (Lord Vishnu’s reincarnation) who emerged out of the ocean with it. That is why Dhanteras is named after the famous physician and is known as ‘Dhanvantari Jayanti’. People worship Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Kuber in their houses on this day. They chant mantras and hymns and pray to the deities to shower luck and prosperity on them. Some even keep the trunk of Lord Ganesha, the God of wisdom and knowledge, in the right direction.

How to perform the puja

• A diya made of flour (atta) with 4 jyots (wicks)
• Sweets, flowers, akshat, kalava and moli.
• Sacred water of River Ganga and some coins.
• Incense sticks
• Kheel and batasha
• A cowry shell with a hole
• A mat on which one must sit and perform the Puja.

Procedure of Dhanteras puja

• After watching the stars in the evening on Dhanteras, women start the puja rituals.
• Women light the diya having 4 wicks in ghee and place it on a level higher than the ground. On the diya (which is also called Yamadeep), the cowry shell is used as a cover.
• Women light the Yamadeep during the evening in order to please Lord Yamraja and thus pay respect to the ancestors of the house.
• Women sprinkle Holy water of River Ganga on the place of puja and then place coins, flowers, akshat and roli while worshipping.
• Each wick of the Yamadeep is offered sweets and incense sticks are lit around it.
• One can also offer kheel or batasha to the diya.
• Women then follow the ritual of going around the diya 4 times and pray for the well-being of their loved ones.

Important: During the puja, the tilak must always be applied on the forehead of the main person who performs the Dhanteras pujan by either the eldest women or by the unmarried girl of the house. The Yamadeep must be placed on the right side of the main entrance of the house after the puja. The younger ones of the house must seek the blessings of their elders after the puja ceremony gets finished.