Glorious Tradition of Deepawali

Ritesh Bhattacharjee

(The writer can be reached at ritesh.bhattacharjee@rediffmail.com)

Vasubaras marks the beginning of the celebration of the Diwali festival. On Vasubaras, the cow with her calf is worshipped. The cow holds a very sacred place in Vedic mythology. She is worshipped and nurtured with the utmost respect. Our Gau Mata and her Prashad, viz. milk, curd, and various other milk products are an inseparable part of Hindu culture. ‘Pancha Gavya’, Panchamrut is frequently used in all Hindu celebrations.

Vasubaras is followed by Dhanteras, also known as Dhanatrayodashi or Dhanvantari Trayodashi. It is the first day that marks the festival of Deepawali or Diwali in India and the festival of Tihar in Nepal. It is celebrated on the thirteenth lunar day of Krishna Paksha (dark lunar fortnight) in the Vikram Samvat Hindu calendar month of Karthik. Lord Dhanvantari, worshipped on the occasion of Dhanteras, is the God of Health and Ayurveda who imparted the wisdom of Ayurveda for the betterment of mankind and to help rid it of the suffering of diseases. The Union Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy, announced its decision to observe Dhanteras, as ‘National Ayurveda Day’ which was first observed on 28 October 2016.

Dhanteras is the worship of Lord Dhanvantari, who according to Hindu mythology, emerged during Samudra Manthan (churning of the Celestial Ocean) by the devas and asuras, holding a Kalash full of Amrit (the divine nectar of immortality) in one hand and the sacred text of Ayurveda in the other on the day of Dhanteras. He is considered to be the Vaidya (physician) of the Gods and an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. On the day of Dhantrayodashi, Goddess Lakshmi came out from the Ocean of Milk during the churning. Hence, Goddess Lakshmi is worshiped on the day of Trayodashi.

The festival is celebrated as Lakshmi Puja is performed in the evenings when tiny diyas (lamps of clay) are lit to drive away from the shadows of evil spirits. Bhajans, devotional songs in praise of Goddess Lakshmi, are sung and naivedya of traditional sweets is offered to the Goddess. A peculiar custom in Maharashtra exists where people lightly pound dry coriander seeds (Dhane in Marathi for Dhanatrayodashi) with jaggery and offer the mixture as naivedya.

On Dhanteras, homes that have not yet been cleaned in preparation for Diwali are thoroughly cleansed and whitewashed, and Lord Dhanvantari is worshiped in the evening. The main entrance is decorated with colorful lanterns, holiday lights and traditional motifs of Rangoli designs that are made to welcome the Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity. To indicate her long-awaited arrival, small footprints are drawn with rice flour and vermilion powder all over the houses. On the night of Dhanteras, diyas are ritually kept burning all through the night in honour of Lakshmi and Dhanvantari.

On this day, Hindus consider it as an extremely auspicious day to make new purchases, especially gold or silver articles and new utensils. It is believed that new Dhan (wealth) or some form of precious metal is a sign of good luck. In modern times, Dhanteras has come to be known as the most auspicious occasion for buying gold, silver and other metals, especially kitchenware. The day also sees heavy purchases of appliances and automobiles.

On this night, the lights are set out both as sky lamps and as offerings at the base of the Tulsi (sacred basil) plant and also in the form of diyas, which are placed in front of the doorways of homes. This light is an offering to Yama, the God of Death, to avert untimely death during the time of the Diwali festival. This day is a celebration aimed at increasing wealth and prosperity. Dhanteras engages themes of cleansing, renewal and the securing of auspiciousness in the form of Goddess Lakshmi. In the villages, cattle are adorned and worshiped by farmers as they form the main source of their income.

In South India (especially Tamil Nadu), Brahmin women make Marundhu which translates into medicine on the eve of Naraka Chaturdasi that is Dhanvantri Trayodashi. The Marundhu is kept during prayer and eaten in the early morning on Naraka Chaturdasi before sunrise. In fact, many families hand over the recipes of Marundhu to their daughters and daughters-in-law. The Marundhu is consumed to eliminate the imbalance of tri-doshas in the body. :

An ancient legend ascribes the occasion to an interesting story about the 16-year-old son of King Hima. His horoscope predicted his death by snake-bite on the fourth day of his marriage. On that particular day, his newly-wed wife did not allow him to sleep. She laid out all her ornaments and lots of gold and silver coins in a heap at the entrance of the sleeping chamber and lit lamps all over the place. Then she narrated stories and sang songs to keep her husband from falling asleep. The next day, when Yama arrived at the prince’s doorstep in the guise of a serpent, his eyes were dazzled and blinded by the brilliance of the lamps and the jewelry.

Yama could not enter the Prince’s chamber, so he climbed on top of the heap of gold coins and sat there the entire night listening to the stories and songs. In the morning, he silently went away. Thus, the young prince was saved from the clutches of death by the cleverness of his new bride, and the day came to be celebrated as Dhanteras.

(The following day came to be called Naraka Chaturdashi (Naraka means hell and Chaturdashi means 14th). It is also known as Yamadeepdaan as the ladies of the house light earthen lamps and these are kept burning throughout the night glorifying Yama, the God of Death. Since this is the night before Diwali, it is also called ‘Chhoti Diwali’ or Minor Diwali.