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TL;DR — Dhanteras marks the start of Diwali and is the most auspicious day of the year to buy metal, gold, silver and wealth items — Friday, 6 November 2026. Families worship Goddess Lakshmi, Lord Kubera and Dhanvantari, and bring home something new for prosperity. Popular buys: Lakshmi-Ganesh idols, pyrite and certified gemstones. Shop wealth essentials at Divine Hindu, Jayanagar. The date is about three weeks later than usual because of Adhik Maas, and the puja is done at pradosh, the twilight after sunset — confirm the exact window for your city with a current panchang. Dhanteras is considered auspicious for purchases in tradition; nothing bought on the day is a promise of wealth.
Dhanteras opens the five days of Diwali on a note of prosperity. The very name — Dhan (wealth) + Teras (thirteenth) — tells its purpose: to invite abundance, health and good fortune into the home. It is the single most auspicious shopping day in the Hindu year. Here is the complete guide from our Jayanagar desk — what to buy, how to do the puja, and the wealth remedies for the day.
Dhanteras 2026 date
In 2026, Dhanteras falls on Friday, 6 November 2026 (Kartik Krishna Trayodashi), with Diwali (Lakshmi Puja) following on Sunday, 8 November 2026. The Dhanteras and Lakshmi-Kubera puja muhurat is usually in the evening (Pradosh Kaal); check your local panchang for exact timings.
The day is fixed by the Trayodashi — the thirteenth tithi of the dark fortnight — and by the rule that the Dhanteras puja is done at pradosh, the twilight period that begins at sunset. In 2026 the Trayodashi tithi begins during the morning of Friday 6 November and is still running at sunrise on Saturday 7 November, so it is current at sunset on the Friday everywhere in India, which is what places Dhanteras on 6 November. Because the puja is tied to sunset rather than the clock, the exact window differs between Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru by the better part of an hour; panchang publishers also differ from one another by some minutes on the same city, so we do not print a single national time here. Take the pradosh window for your own city from a current panchang on the day.
The festival travels under several names, and they are all the same day. In Sanskrit and in most printed panchangs it is Dhantrayodashi; in Maharashtra it is written Dhanatrayodashi; in Ayurvedic tradition and in temples of the physician-god it is Dhanvantari Jayanti or Dhanvantari Trayodashi, the birthday of Dhanvantari; in everyday Hindi it is simply Dhan Teras. Families in the South and West who follow the amanta calendar will find the same tithi listed under Ashwin rather than Kartik — the label on the month changes, the day does not. In Nepal the same Trayodashi opens Tihar, and in Gujarat it follows a day after Vagh Baras, the Govatsa Dwadashi on which the cow and calf are worshipped.
Why Dhanteras is so late in 2026: the Adhik Maas explanation
If Dhanteras in early November looks wrong to you, the calendar has not slipped — it has corrected itself. The Hindu calendar is luni-solar: months are counted by the moon, which gives a year of roughly 354 days, but festivals are held to the seasons of the sun, which take about 365. Left alone, the lunar year would drift eleven days earlier every year and Diwali would end up in the monsoon within a decade. To prevent this the shastras prescribe an extra lunar month every 32 to 33 months, called Adhik Maas, also Mal Maas or Purushottam Maas.
In 2026 that extra month fell between 17 May and 15 June, inserted as a second Jyeshtha. Because it came before the festival half of the year, every tithi-based festival from Guru Purnima onward has landed roughly nineteen to twenty days later than it did in 2025: Ganesh Chaturthi on 14 September instead of late August, Navratri from 11 October, Dussehra on 20 October, Karwa Chauth on 29 October, and now Dhanteras on 6 November and Diwali on 8 November. In 2025 Dhanteras fell on 18 October; in 2027 it returns to late October. The full explanation, with the rest of the season's dates, is in our Diwali 2026 Lakshmi Puja guide and the Hindu Festival Calendar 2026.
Significance of Dhanteras
Dhanteras honours three forces of well-being: Goddess Lakshmi (wealth and fortune), Lord Kubera (the treasurer of the gods), and Lord Dhanvantari (the deity of health and Ayurveda). Buying something new — especially metal — is believed to multiply prosperity through the year. It is a day to renew the home's wealth energy.
The three belong together in a way that is worth spelling out. Lakshmi is the wealth that arrives; Kubera is the wealth that is kept and accounted for; Dhanvantari is the health without which neither is of any use. A household that cleans its house, lights its lamps and brings home a new vessel on Dhanteras is, in the traditional reading, making itself ready for all three — and the two days that follow, Naraka Chaturdashi and the Lakshmi Puja of Diwali night, complete what Dhanteras begins. The word dhan in older usage meant grain and cattle as much as coin, and the vessels bought on the day were storage for the new rabi harvest; the festival's association with prosperity is older than gold shops.
Dhanvantari: why the day belongs to him
The Puranas tell that when the devas and asuras churned the ocean of milk — the samudra manthan — for the nectar of immortality, fourteen treasures rose from the waters one after another: the wish-fulfilling cow, the divine horse, the elephant Airavata, Lakshmi herself, and, last of all, a radiant figure holding a pot of amrit. That figure was Dhanvantari, the physician of the gods and an avatar of Vishnu, and tradition holds that he emerged on the Trayodashi of the dark fortnight of Kartik — this day. Two days later, on Amavasya, Lakshmi is worshipped, which is why the five days of Diwali begin with health and end with wealth.
Dhanvantari is regarded as the founder of Ayurveda, and the pot in his hands is why a new vessel — a kalash, a lota, a bowl — is the most traditional Dhanteras purchase of all: the family brings home a container, as he brought the container of amrit. Ayurvedic physicians, hospitals and colleges mark the day as Dhanvantari Jayanti with a puja to him, and for several years the Government of India observed National Ayurveda Day on Dhanteras before moving the observance to a fixed date in September. In the home puja he is invoked before Lakshmi and Kubera with the mantra Om Dhanvantaraye Namah, or with the longer verse that names him as the remover of all disease, and the prayer made is for health in the household through the coming year — a prayer, not a prescription. In Vedic practice he is shown with four arms, holding the pot of amrit, a leech, a conch and a text or a chakra; a picture or a small brass image serves the puja, and where the family has neither, the new vessel itself is placed before Lakshmi and Ganesha and Dhanvantari is invoked into it.
What to buy on Dhanteras
| Item | Why it's auspicious |
|---|---|
| Gold & silver | Symbols of Lakshmi; coins with Lakshmi-Ganesh are especially popular. |
| Lakshmi-Ganesh idols | For the Diwali puja and the home mandir; traditionally kept to invite wealth & wisdom. |
| Pyrite | The “money magnet” stone — traditionally kept for wealth and business growth. |
| Certified gemstones | An auspicious day to bring home a prescribed planetary stone. |
| Utensils / metal | Brass, copper or steel for the kitchen — a traditional Dhanteras buy. |
| Broom | Symbolically sweeps in Lakshmi and sweeps out negativity. |
Why gold, silver and utensils: the tradition behind each
Each of the customary purchases has its own reasoning, and knowing it makes the choice easier.
| Traditionally bought | The tradition behind it |
|---|---|
| Gold | The metal of Lakshmi and of permanence; it does not tarnish, and a family's gold was its stored wealth long before banks. A coin, a small ornament or even a gram is enough in the tradition — the custom is in the bringing home, not the weight. |
| Silver | Associated with the moon and with Lakshmi's cool, steady form; silver coins stamped with Lakshmi-Ganesh are the single most common Dhanteras purchase in India, and a silver lota, glass or diya joins the puja shelf for life. See hallmarked silver. |
| Brass, copper and bronze utensils | The oldest form of the custom: a new vessel for the harvest, echoing Dhanvantari's pot. Brass for the mandir, copper for water, bronze or kansa for the plate. Tradition asks that the vessel not be brought home empty — carry it in with water, rice, grain or a sweet inside. See brass collections. |
| Steel and everyday kitchenware | A modern extension of the same custom; a steel plate, glass or spoon is accepted almost everywhere as the "new metal" of the day. |
| A broom (jhadu) | Regarded as a form of Lakshmi in many North Indian homes, because it removes daridra, want. Bought on Dhanteras, and by widespread custom first used on the morning after Diwali. |
| Dhaniya (coriander seed) | In Gujarat and Maharashtra a small packet of whole coriander is bought and offered, then sown in the garden after Diwali; in Marathi homes dry coriander pounded with jaggery, dhane-gul, is the naivedya of the evening. |
| Lakshmi-Ganesh idols and images | Bought for the Lakshmi Puja two days later; clay images are traditionally new each year, while brass or silver idols join the mandir permanently. See Lakshmi idols and Ganesha idols. |
| Diyas and lamps | Clay diyas for the thirteen lamps of Dhanteras evening and the many of Diwali night; a brass lamp for the mandir. See diyas and lamps. |
| New account books | Traders in Gujarat and Rajasthan buy the new chopda or bahi-khata on Dhanteras for the Chopda Pujan of Diwali night, when the old year's books are closed and the new opened before Lakshmi. |
| Gomti chakra, cowrie shells, a Kuber or Shree yantra | Small items placed on the Lakshmi chowki in the tradition of the puja. Choosing one is a matter of personal faith; our guide on Kuber Yantra, Shree Yantra and the pyrite pyramid explains the differences. |
What is traditionally avoided on Dhanteras
The customs of avoidance are as old as the customs of buying, and every region keeps a few. None is a prohibition with a stated consequence; they are the day's etiquette, kept because they always have been.
| Traditionally avoided | Why, in the tradition |
|---|---|
| Iron | Associated with Shani and with heaviness; iron is bought on other days. Many families extend this to steel with a large iron content and to iron tools and cookware. |
| Glass and crockery | Linked to Rahu in astrological custom, and in plainer terms fragile — nothing that can break is bought on a day of permanence. |
| Black objects and black clothes | Black is set aside on all the Diwali days; new clothes are bought in reds, yellows, greens and whites. |
| Sharp objects | Knives, scissors and blades are traditionally not bought on Dhanteras. |
| Empty vessels | A new vessel is carried into the house with something in it — water, grain, rice or a sweet. |
| Plastic and aluminium | A modern extension: the day's purchase is meant to last, so the disposable and the cheap-but-temporary are set aside for a different day. |
| Lending or giving away money | Money is received and kept on Dhanteras, not sent out; loans, repayments and large payments are traditionally settled a day earlier or later. Gifts of sweets and things are, of course, freely given. |
| Buying on credit | Traditionally the Dhanteras purchase is paid for in full; the point of the day is what is owned, not what is owed. |
Most of these vary by household, and a family that has always bought a steel bucket on Dhanteras should go on buying its steel bucket. Where tradition and practicality conflict, the tradition is that Dhanteras is a day for welcoming, not for worry.
What to buy on a budget
The size of the purchase has never been the point. In the traditional telling, the family that brings home a single steel spoon has kept Dhanteras exactly as fully as the family that brings home a gold chain, because what the custom asks for is that something new and lasting enter the house on the day. If the budget is small, these are the purchases families have always made: a silver coin of the smallest weight, which many jewellers stock precisely for the day; a brass or copper lota or a single steel glass or plate; a packet of whole coriander; a new broom; a set of clay diyas and cotton wicks; a clay Lakshmi-Ganesh from the roadside stall; a small brass diya for the mandir; or a packet of salt or rice, which many Maharashtrian and Gujarati families bring home as the day's dhan. None of these is a lesser Dhanteras. Nothing bought on the day is a promise of prosperity, and no purchase should be made on borrowed money to satisfy a custom whose whole meaning is contentment.
Dhanteras puja vidhi
- Clean the home and entrance; draw a rangoli and light diyas at the door.
- In the evening (Pradosh Kaal), set up the puja with Lakshmi-Ganesh idols and the new item bought.
- Offer flowers, sweets, haldi-kumkum; light a ghee diya; chant Lakshmi and Kubera mantras.
- Keep a diya burning at the doorway through the night to welcome Lakshmi.
The Dhanteras puja, step by step
The household form below is the one most North and West Indian families keep. It takes twenty to thirty minutes, needs no priest, and is done at pradosh — the stretch beginning at local sunset — on the evening of Friday 6 November. Follow your own family's order where it differs.
- Prepare the house in the day. Dhanteras is the day the Diwali cleaning is finished: the house is swept, the mandir washed, old and broken things set aside. In the afternoon the entrance is decorated with rangoli and a toran of mango leaves and marigold. Bathe and wear clean, preferably new, clothes before the puja.
- Set the chowki. Spread a red or yellow cloth on a low wooden chowki facing east or north. Place Ganesha on the left and Lakshmi to his right; a picture or image of Dhanvantari and a Kubera image or yantra beside them. Set a kalash of water with mango leaves and a coconut in front. Place the day's new purchase — the coin, the vessel, the idol — on the chowki before the deities, with a little akshat under it.
- Sankalp. Take water in the right palm, state your name, gotra, the place and the date — Kartik Krishna Trayodashi, 6 November 2026 — and the intent of the puja, which by tradition is the health and well-being of the household; release the water.
- Ganesha first. Offer roli, akshat, a flower and a sweet to Ganesha with Om Gan Ganapataye Namah. No puja in the tradition begins without him.
- Invoke Dhanvantari. Offer a flower and a lamp to the image or to the new vessel with Om Dhanvantaraye Namah, and pray in your own words for health in the family. Some households read the short Dhanvantari stotra here.
- Lakshmi puja. Bathe the Lakshmi image with a little panchamrit and water if it is metal, or sprinkle water if it is clay or paper; apply haldi and kumkum, offer akshat, a lotus or marigold, a sweet and a few coins. Chant Om Shreem Mahalakshmyai Namah — eleven or twenty-one times, or a full mala of 108 if the family keeps one; the meaning and the method are in our Lakshmi mantra guide.
- Kubera puja. Turn to the Kubera image, the yantra, or — as most households do — the locker, cash box or the place where the family keeps its money. Mark it with a swastika in kumkum, offer a flower and akshat, and chant the Kubera mantra given in the section below. Place the new coin or a little money inside.
- Aarti. Light camphor on the pooja thali, perform the Lakshmi aarti — Om Jai Lakshmi Mata — with the family, ring the bell, and distribute the sweet as prasad.
- The thirteen lamps. After the aarti, light thirteen diyas — terah for Trayodashi — and place them at the entrance, the windows, the tulsi, the kitchen and the mandir. Mustard oil is customary for these; a ghee diya stays before Lakshmi.
- Yamadeep. Last, light the lamp for Yama and set it outside the door facing south, as described in the next section. It is the one lamp on Dhanteras that is placed by the women of the house and left to burn through the night.
Dhanteras puja samagri
| For | What is traditionally kept ready |
|---|---|
| The deities | Lakshmi and Ganesha idols or images — see Lakshmi idols, Ganesha idols and all idols; a picture of Dhanvantari; a Kubera image or yantra; a chowki and red or yellow cloth. |
| The kalash | A copper or brass kalash, water, five mango leaves, a coconut, a coin, a little akshat to set it on. |
| The thali | A pooja thali with roli, kumkum, haldi, chandan, akshat, a bell, a shankh if the family keeps one, and camphor for the aarti. |
| Lamps | Thirteen clay diyas with cotton wicks and mustard oil, one ghee diya for Lakshmi, and a wheat-flour or clay diya for the Yamadeep — see diyas and lamps and our note on ghee versus oil diyas. |
| Offerings | Marigold and lotus, a sweet or kheer, dry fruit, a few coins, paan and supari, agarbatti and dhoop, and in Marathi homes the dhane-gul. |
| The purchase | Whatever new metal or vessel the family has bought, placed on the chowki with akshat beneath it. |
| If you cannot be at home | Book an online puja or a pooja seva in the family's name. |
Yamadeep daan: the diya for Yama
Of all the lamps lit through the Diwali week, the Yamadeep — the lamp offered to Yama, the lord of death — is the only one that faces away from the house, and it belongs to Dhanteras evening alone. The story behind it is told in most North Indian homes on the night.
A king named Hima had a son whose horoscope foretold that he would die of a snakebite on the fourth night after his marriage. The prince married, and when the fourth night came, his young wife refused to let him sleep. She laid all the gold and silver of the house, and every coin, in a heap at the door of their chamber, lit lamps everywhere so that the room blazed with light, and sat by her husband through the night telling stories and singing. When Yama came in the form of a serpent, the glare of the lamps and the gold dazzled him; he sat on the heap of ornaments and listened to the songs until dawn, when the appointed hour had passed, and went away without the prince. Tradition holds that Yama, moved, declared that whoever lit a lamp for him on the Trayodashi of the dark fortnight of Kartik would be spared untimely death in the household. The story is a traditional account rather than history, but it is the reason the lamp is lit, and the reason the whole night of Dhanteras is kept bright.
How it is done. The Yamadeep is lit at pradosh, after the household puja. In many families it is a diya made of kneaded wheat flour rather than clay, with a wick of cotton — four wicks in some traditions, one in most — filled with mustard oil or sesame oil. The women of the house light it, and it is placed outside the main door, facing south, the direction of Yama, on a small heap of grain or rice, sometimes with a few coins and a flower beside it. It is left to burn through the night and is not brought back inside. The prayer traditionally recited with it asks Yama, the son of Surya, to be pleased by the lamp offered on Trayodashi, so that death with its noose and staff may stay far from the house:
Mrityuna pasha-dandabhyam kalena shyamaya saha, Trayodashyam deepa-danat Suryajah priyatam mama.
Some households light the Yamadeep on Naraka Chaturdashi instead, or on both days; both are within the tradition. Keep the lamp away from anything that can catch, and where the doorstep is shared, a sheltered corner facing south serves.
Kubera puja on Dhanteras
Kubera — Kuber in Hindi, Vaishravana in the Buddhist and Sanskrit texts — is the king of the Yakshas, the guardian of the northern direction and the treasurer of the gods, and in the Puranas a devotee and friend of Shiva who was granted the keeping of all the wealth of the three worlds. He is worshipped with Lakshmi rather than instead of her, and the traditional reason is simple: Lakshmi is wealth arriving, Kubera is wealth kept. A house that invokes only one, the saying goes, either never receives or never retains.
In the home, Kubera puja on Dhanteras is usually done at the family's locker, cash box, safe or the drawer where money is kept, since that is his seat. The box is cleaned, a swastika drawn on it in kumkum, and a flower, akshat and a lamp offered to it, with the new coin of the day placed inside. Families that keep a Kubera image or a Kubera yantra place it on the chowki to the north of Lakshmi, or on the north wall of the room — Kubera's own direction — and it stays there through the year; our guides on the Kuber sthan, the wealth corner, and on Shree Yantra placement cover where each is traditionally kept. Shopkeepers do the same at the shop's cash counter on Dhanteras evening, and in Gujarat and Rajasthan the new account books bought on the day wait for the Chopda Pujan of Diwali night. The mantra recited is the Kubera mantra of the tradition:
Om Yakshaya Kuberaya Vaishravanaya Dhana-dhanyadhipataye, Dhana-dhanya-samriddhim me dehi dapaya svaha.
Chanted eleven, twenty-one or 108 times, the mantra is a prayer for sufficiency in grain and wealth. It is, like every prayer on the page, a prayer — an expression of intent and gratitude in the Vedic manner, not an instrument with a guaranteed result, and no yantra, stone or idol should be bought in the belief that it is one.
Dhanteras across India
The day has one shape and many accents. In Gujarat it comes the day after Vagh Baras and is the great buying day of the year, with traders purchasing the new chopda and families the year's silver; the Yamadeep is lit and the house is ready for Kali Chaudas the next night. In Maharashtra, Dhanatrayodashi follows Vasu Baras, the cow is worshipped the evening before, and the household's naivedya is the dhane-gul, coriander and jaggery, offered with the family's coins and ornaments placed before Lakshmi. In Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi and Rajasthan the Yamadeep and the thirteen lamps are the heart of the evening, and the markets for utensils and silver are at their busiest of the year. In Punjab and Haryana the day is kept as in Delhi, with new metal, sweets and lamps. In Bengal, Dhanteras was until recently a minor day, but gold buying on Dhanteras has grown enormously in Kolkata over the last two decades and the city's jewellery quarters now treat it as they treat Poila Boishakh; the Amavasya two nights later is Kali Puja rather than Lakshmi Puja. In the South, Dhanteras is not traditionally a household festival — Deepavali begins with the oil bath of Naraka Chaturdashi — but Dhanvantari Jayanti is kept in Ayurvedic institutions and Dhanvantari temples, and gold buying on the day has spread with the national market. In Nepal the same Trayodashi opens Tihar, and the diaspora keeps Dhanteras wherever there is an Indian jeweller. Everywhere, the same three are honoured: the physician, the goddess and the treasurer.
Wealth remedies for Dhanteras
Beyond shopping, Dhanteras is ideal for activating wealth energy: place an energised pyrite in the north (Kubera's direction) or the wealth corner, begin wearing a 7 Mukhi Rudraksha (Mahalakshmi) for prosperity, and keep your home mandir clean and well-lit. Business owners often refresh the cash counter — see our guide on rudraksha for business & wealth.
Each of these is a traditional practice kept as a matter of personal faith and intent, not a financial instrument; judge any purchase on its own merits, and take qualified professional advice on money matters. If pyrite is on your list, our guides on telling original pyrite from fake and on pyrite as a whole will help you choose well.
Dhanteras Wealth Essentials — Idols, Pyrite & Gemstones
Lakshmi-Ganesh idols, energised pyrite & certified gemstones — online with free shipping, or visit us in Jayanagar, Bengaluru.
Shop Dhanteras Essentials at Divine Hindu →The five days of Diwali 2026 at a glance
Dhanteras is the first of five. Seen together, the 2026 week looks like this; the detail for each day is in our Diwali 2026 guide and the Govardhan Puja 2026 guide and Bhai Dooj 2026 guide.
| Day | 2026 date | What is done |
|---|---|---|
| Dhanteras (Dhantrayodashi) | Friday, 6 November 2026 | New metal brought home; Dhanvantari, Lakshmi and Kubera puja at pradosh; thirteen lamps and the Yamadeep. |
| Naraka Chaturdashi (Choti Diwali) | Sunday, 8 November 2026 — pre-dawn | Abhyanga snan, the oil bath before sunrise. The Chaturdashi tithi runs from the morning of Saturday 7 November into Sunday morning, so Gujarat's Kali Chaudas and Hanuman puja fall on Saturday night, and some calendars list Choti Diwali on Saturday 7 November. |
| Diwali — Lakshmi Puja | Sunday, 8 November 2026 — evening | Lakshmi-Ganesha puja at pradosh; the house lit with lamps. |
| Govardhan Puja (Annakut, Bali Pratipada) | Tuesday, 10 November 2026 | Annakut offering to Krishna — see the Govardhan Puja 2026 guide; Monday 9 November is the Amavasya morning kept for Diwali snan and dev puja, with no separate festival. |
| Bhai Dooj (Yama Dwitiya) | Wednesday, 11 November 2026 | The sister's tilak — see the Bhai Dooj 2026 guide. Some panchangs place it on Tuesday 10 November, since the Dwitiya tithi begins that afternoon; confirm with your own. |
Each of these is a tithi mapped onto a calendar day and can move by one with your city's sunrise, so confirm against a current panchang before you observe. Chhath Puja closes the season from 13 to 16 November — see the Chhath Puja 2026 guide — and the fasting days of the month are in our Ekadashi 2026 list and Purnima and Amavasya 2026 list. If Karwa Chauth is still ahead of you, our Karwa Chauth 2026 guide covers the fast on 29 October.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is Dhanteras in 2026?
In 2026, Dhanteras falls on Friday, 6 November 2026, on Kartik Krishna Trayodashi, with Diwali and Lakshmi Puja following on Sunday, 8 November 2026. The Dhanteras and Lakshmi-Kubera puja muhurat is usually held in the evening during Pradosh Kaal. As exact timings vary by city, it is best to check your local panchang for the precise puja window on the day.
What should you buy on Dhanteras?
The most auspicious Dhanteras purchases are gold and silver, especially Lakshmi-Ganesh coins, Lakshmi-Ganesh idols for the Diwali puja and home mandir, pyrite which is regarded as a money-magnet stone, certified planetary gemstones, brass or copper utensils, and a new broom which symbolically sweeps in Lakshmi. Buying something new, especially metal, on Dhanteras is believed to multiply prosperity through the year. At Divine Hindu Store, Jayanagar Bengaluru, idols, pyrite and Govt. Certified gemstones are available.
What are the wealth remedies for Dhanteras?
Wealth remedies for Dhanteras include placing an energised pyrite in the north, the direction of Kubera, or in the home's wealth corner, beginning to wear a 7 Mukhi Rudraksha associated with Goddess Mahalakshmi for prosperity, keeping the home mandir clean and well-lit, and lighting a diya at the doorway through the night to welcome Lakshmi. Business owners often refresh and worship the cash counter. These are performed alongside the Lakshmi-Kubera puja in the evening muhurat.
Why is Dhanteras so late in 2026?
Dhanteras 2026 falls on 6 November, about three weeks later than usual, because the Hindu luni-solar calendar inserted an extra month, Adhik Maas, between 17 May and 15 June 2026. Adhik Maas is added roughly every 32 to 33 months to keep lunar festivals aligned with the solar seasons, and because it came before the festival half of the year, every tithi-based festival from Guru Purnima onward has shifted later by about nineteen to twenty days. Diwali follows on Sunday, 8 November 2026.
What should not be bought on Dhanteras?
Tradition sets aside iron, glass and crockery, black objects and black clothes, sharp objects such as knives and scissors, and plastic or aluminium items, since the day's purchase is meant to be lasting. A new vessel is not brought home empty but carried in with water, grain or a sweet inside. Money is traditionally received and kept rather than lent or given away on the day, and the purchase is paid for in full rather than bought on credit. These are customs rather than rules with stated consequences, and family practice varies.
What is Yamadeep daan and how is it done?
Yamadeep daan is the lamp offered to Yama, the lord of death, on Dhanteras evening. A diya, often made of kneaded wheat flour, is filled with mustard or sesame oil, lit at pradosh by the women of the house, and placed outside the main door facing south on a small heap of grain, where it burns through the night. It is traditionally linked to the story of King Hima's son, whose wife kept Yama away with lamps, gold and songs, and Yama is believed to have promised that a lamp lit for him on this Trayodashi would keep untimely death from the household.
Who is Dhanvantari and why is he worshipped on Dhanteras?
Dhanvantari is the physician of the gods and an avatar of Vishnu, who in the Puranas rose from the churning of the ocean of milk holding the pot of amrit, and is regarded as the founder of Ayurveda. Tradition holds that he emerged on Kartik Krishna Trayodashi, which is why the day is also called Dhanvantari Jayanti and why a new vessel is the most traditional Dhanteras purchase. He is invoked in the home puja before Lakshmi and Kubera with the mantra Om Dhanvantaraye Namah, and the prayer made is for the health of the household.
Is it necessary to buy gold on Dhanteras?
No. Gold is the best-known Dhanteras purchase but the tradition asks only that something new and lasting enter the house on the day. A small silver coin, a brass or copper lota, a steel glass or spoon, a packet of whole coriander, a new broom, clay diyas, a clay Lakshmi-Ganesh or even a packet of salt or rice are all customary Dhanteras purchases. The size of the purchase has never been the point, nothing bought is a promise of prosperity, and no purchase should be made on borrowed money.
What is the Dhanteras puja muhurat for 2026?
The Dhanteras puja is done at pradosh, the twilight period that begins at local sunset on Friday, 6 November 2026, while the Trayodashi tithi is current. Because pradosh depends on sunset, the exact window differs between cities by the better part of an hour, and panchang publishers differ from one another by some minutes on the same city, so take the timing for your own location from a current panchang on the day rather than from a single national figure.
Can the Dhanteras purchase be made online or on another day?
The custom is that the new item enters the house on Dhanteras, so most families either buy in person on the day or order in advance so that it arrives on 6 November and is placed before the deities at the evening puja. Where delivery falls on another day, many families simply keep the item aside and bring it into the mandir on Dhanteras evening. Tradition also treats the whole Diwali week as auspicious, so a purchase that arrives on Naraka Chaturdashi or on Diwali itself is placed in the Lakshmi Puja instead.
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A brass image of Kubera is traditionally kept on the north side of the Lakshmi chowki or on the north wall of the puja room and worshipped with Lakshmi on Dhanteras evening; if your mandir does not have one, the Kuber Maharaj brass idol is the kind most households keep for this puja. For Dhanteras wealth essentials — Lakshmi-Ganesh idols, energised pyrite and certified gemstones — visit Divine Hindu Store, Jayanagar 3rd Block East, Bengaluru 560011, or shop our idols and gemstone collections online with free shipping across India. Related reading: Pyrite for Wealth · Rudraksha for Business & Wealth · What to Buy on Dhanteras and Akshaya Tritiya.
