Diwali Celebration is a grand event in India and continues for five days. The first day of the festival of lights is called Dhanteras. Dhanteras celebration is considered to be very auspicious and this day holds special significance. The reasons that this day is celebrated as the first day of Diwali are many varied and the story of the Diwali history of this day's significance is very interesting. The first day of Deepawali is called Dhanvantari Trayodashi. Dhan means "wealth" and Trayodashi means "13th day”. In popular practice, it is an auspicious day for shopping for utensils and gold.
On this day Lord Vishnu's unmanifested energy flows through Shri Laxmi Devi's Surya nadi and the channel is activated. Thus the rays generated during the day are full of the 'Tej tattva' or the fire element. These 'Tej' rays spread all over the Universe and the whole Universe is illuminated by shiny golden particles. Goddess Laxmi’s Chaitanya present in these golden particles provides opulence, and prosperity and creates an environment conducive for spiritual practice. Hence on this day, Goddess Laxmi is worshipped with utmost devotion. Because of the ritualistic worship with spiritual emotion, the Lord and controller of wealth - Kuber enters the earth's environment and in this process, Lord Ganesha removes the hindrances in the way. Thus by worshiping the coupled Divine energy of Goddess Laxmi- the creator of wealth, Lord Kuber- the distributor of wealth, and Lord Ganesha – the remover of obstacles in the way, devotees are blessed with the ability to attract wealth and thus fulfilling their desires.
As per legends, the horoscope reading of King Hima’s sixteen year old son revealed that he would die on the fourth day of his marriage by a snake bite. Knowing this his wife laid out all her ornaments at the entrance of the house, lit up all the oil lamps and started singing a melodious song. As Yama tried to enter the house in the form of a snake, he was dazzled by the brightness of the house and could not enter the house. Thus he settled down on the top of a tree and got lost in the melodious tunes of the song and therefore missed his timeline. In this manner the prince's life was saved by the intelligence of his wife. For this reason, this is considered an auspicious time to buy jewelry. Thus one should perform good deeds all the time to strengthen his fate. As per beliefs to appease lord Yamraj and to safeguard once family against sudden calamities or death like situations the oil filled diyas are kept burning throughout the night at main entrance and in southern corner of the house . This ritual is popularly known as Yamadeepdaan.
Lord Indra was cursed by sage Durvasa that he would be ripped off all his powers and wealth and Goddess Laxmi would disappear from his side. Upon the occurrence of this event, the Asuras defeated the Devtas and they were left in Misery. Then lord Vishnu suggested the Gods to churn the milk of the sea and drink the Amrit which will come out of it to become immortal. Thus the great Samudra Manthan, or sea churning started between the Asuras and Devas where Vasuki, the king of serpents became the rope. As this process started, Goddess Lakshmi appeared again, sitting on a lotus flower and filled with radiance and opulence. The gods and demons continued to churn the ocean for Amrit or nectar, Finally, Dhanvantari emerged carrying a jar of the nectar. Both the gods and demons wanted the amrit, but finally, Vishnu managed to give the immortal nectar to the gods, and the asuras were defeated. Thus the churning of the ocean resulted in the immortality of the Devtas and was the reason for Lakshmi's emergence. Thus on this day by worshipping the Tulsi and the Akashdeep, we symbolically seek the favor of Nature which is the ultimate source of health and wealth.
