India - Dhanteras

Dhanteras : Dhanteras falls on the thirteenth day of the month of Ashwin and marks the beginning of Diwali.

Dhanteras is celebrated to seek blessings of Goddess Laxmi, the goddess of wealth. The day is considered auspicious and people purchase gold or silver or at least one or two new utensils. This day is of particular significance to the mercantile community.

Traditional Rangoli welcomes the Goddess of wealth and prosperity. Small footprints (Lakshmi Pada) are drawn with rice flour and vermilion powder as going inside the house. "Lakshmi-Puja" is performed in the evenings when tiny diyas of clay are lighted to drive away the shadows of evil spirits. "Bhajans"-devotional songs in praise of Goddess Laxmi are sung and "Naivedya" of traditional sweets is offered to the Goddess. In Maharashtra, lightly pound dry coriander seeds with jaggery and offer as Naivedya.

The story behind Dhanteras

King Hima had a sixteen year old son whose horoscope indicated he was doomed to die by a snake-bite on the fourth day of his marriage. On that particular fourth day of his marriage his young wife did not allow him to sleep. She laid all the ornaments and lots of gold and silver coins in a big heap at the entrance of her husband's boudoir and lit innumerable lamps all over the place. And she went on telling stories and singing songs. When Yama, the god of Death arrived in the guise of a Serpent his eyes got blinded by the brilliant lights and he could not enter the Prince's chamber. So he climbed on top of the heap of the ornaments and coins and sat there all night listening to the melodious songs. In the morning he quietly left. Thus the young wife saved her husband from the clutches of death. Since then this day of Dhanteras came to be known as the day of "YAMADEEPDAAN" and lamps are kept burning through the night in reverential adoration to Yama, the god of Death.

The second day of the five-day Deepavali festival is called NARAKA-CHATURDASHI or CHOTI DIWALI which falls on the fourteenth day of the month of Ashwin.

The story goes that the demon king Narakasura the ruler of Pragjyotishpur ( a province to the South of Nepal) after defeating Lord Indra had snatched away the magnificent earrings of Aditi, the Mother Goddess and imprisoned sixteen thousand daughters of the gods and saints in his harem. On the day previous to Narakachaturdashi, Lord Krishna killed the demon and liberated the imprisoned damsels and also recovered those precious earrings of Aditi. As a symbol of that victory Lord Krishna smeared his forehead with the demon king's blood. Krishna returned home in the very early morning of the Narakachaturdashi day. The womenfolk massaged scented oil to his body and gave him a good bath to wash away the filth from his body. Since then the custom of taking bath before sunrise on this day has become a traditional practice specially in Maharashtra.

In South India that victory of the divine over the mundane is celebrated in a very peculiar way. People wake up before sunrise prepare blood by mixing Kumkum in oil and after breaking a bitter fruit that represents the head of the demon King that was smashed by Krishna, apply that mixture on their foreheads. Then they have an oil bath using sandalwood paste.

In Maharashtra also, traditional early baths with oil and "Uptan" (paste) of gram flour and fragrant powders are a `must'. After bursting crackers, steamed vermiceli with milk and sugar or puffed rice with curd is served.

Lakshmi puja-Amavasya: The third day of the festival of Diwali is the most important day of LAKSHMI-PUJA which is entirely devoted to the propitiation of Goddess Lakshmi. This day is also known by the name of "CHOPADA-PUJA".

The day of Lakshmi-Puja falls on the dark night of Amavasya, which falls on October 22 this year. Man's self enlightenment is expressed through the twinkling lamps that illuminate the palaces of the wealthy as well as the lowly abodes of the poor. It is believed that on this day Lakshmi walks through the green fields and showers her blessings on man. When the sun sets in the evening and ceremonial worship is finished all the home-made sweets are offered to the goddess as "NAIVEDYA" and distributed as "PRASAD".

One of the most curious customs which characterises this festival of Diwali is the indulgence of gambling, specially on a large scale in North India. It is believed that goddess Parvati played dice with her husband, Lord Shiv on this day and she decreed that whosoever gambled on Diwali night would prosper throughout the ensuring year.

It was also on this auspicious day that Lord Krishna who preached Karmayoga through his Geeta to Arjun on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, discarded his body.

Bhagwan, Mahavir, the Jain prophet also attained "Nirvan" on this day.

Another interesting story about this Diwali day is from Kathopanishad of a small boy called Nachiketa who was to die as a teenager, who believed that Yama, the god of Death was as black as the dark night of amavasya. But when he met Yama in person he was puzzled seeing Yama's calm countenance and dignified stature. Yama explained to Nichiketa on this Diwali day of amavasya that by only passing through the darkness of death, man sees the light of highest wisdom. Nachiketa realised the importance of worldly life and significance of death. Nachiketa's doubts were set at rest and he whole-heartedly participated in Diwali celebrations.

The fourth day is PADYA or VARSHAPRATIPADA which marks the coronation of King Vikramaditya and Vikaram-Samvat was started from this Padwa day.

Another legend is about King Bali of the nether world mighty power had become a threat to the gods. In order to curb his powers Lord Vishnu in the guise of a Batu Waman- a small boy- visited him and begged him to give him only that much land which he could cover with his three steps. Known for his philanthropy, King Bali proudly granted him his wish. That very moment that small boy transformed himself into the all-powerful Lord Vishnu. With his first step Lord Vishnu covered the entire heaven and with the second step the earth and asked Bali where to keep his third step. Bali offered his head. Putting his foot on his head Vishnu pushed him down to the underworld. At the same time for his generosity Lord Vishnu gave him the lamp of knowledge and allowed him to return to earth once a year to dispel the darkness and ignorance and spread the radiance of love and wisdom among his people.

Govardhan-Puja is also performed in the North on this day. As per Vishnu-Puran the people of Gokul celebrated a festival in honour of Lord Indira and worshipped him after the end of every monsoon season. Once, young Krishna stopped them from offering prayers to Lord Indra who in terrific anger sent a deluge to submerge Gokul. But Krishna saved his Gokul by lifting up the Govardhan mountain and holding it over the people as an umbrella.

The fifth and final day of Diwali Festival is known by the name of BHAYYA-DUJ in the Hindi-speaking belt "BHAU-BIJ" in the Marathi-speaking communities and in Nepal by the name of "BHAI-TIKA". As the legend goes Yama, the God of Death visited his sister Yami on this particular day. She put the auspicious tilak on his forehead, garlanded him and fed him with special dishes. Both of them ate, talked and enjoyed themselves. While leaving, Yama gave her a special gift as a token of his love and in return Yami also gave him a lovely gift which she had made with her own hands. That day Yamraj announced that anyone who receives tilak from his sister will never be thrown. That is why this day of Bhayyaduj is also known by the name of "YAMA-DWITIYA" Since then this day is being observed as a symbol of love between sisters and brothers. It became also imperative for the brother to go to his sister's house to celebrate Bhayyaduj.

Another legend goes thus:

When Lord Vamana was pleased with Bali chakravarthi and appeared in Vishnu-rupa, Bali asked a boon that Lord Vishnu would be on every door at Patalaloka. Lord Vishnu agrees and goes to become Bali's Dwarpalaka. When Goddess Lakshmi heard this from Narad, she was distressed. Laxmi tricks Bali to get her husband back. She goes to him as a poor woman seeking help and says she doesn't have a brother and would dearly like one. When Bali agrees to be her brother and asked what he could give her in return. Laxmi replies that Bali has her all at his service and requests the release of Lord Vishnu. Thus, Lord Vishnu was released from the service of Bali.

Another story says that on the day of Bhai Dooj, Lord Krishna went to see his sister Subhadra after slaying the demon Narakasura,. She welcomes her brother with the lamp, flowers and sweets, and puts the holy protective spot on her brother's forehead.

Yet another story behind the origin of Bhai Dooj says that when Mahavir, the founder of Jainism, attained nirvana, his brother King Nandivardhan was distressed because he missed him and was comforted by his sister Sudarshana. Since then, women have been revered during Bhai Dooj.

Govardhan is a small hillock in Braj, near Mathura and on this day of Diwali people of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar build cowdung, hillocks, decorate them with flowers and then worship them.

This day is also observed as Annakoot meaning mountain of food. In temples specially in Mathura and Nathadwara, mounds of sweets are offered to the gods and devotees take the Prasad.