According to Hindu traditions, gold and silver are believed to protect us from bad omens and anything negative and are thus considered extremely auspicious. But what is the significance of purchasing kitchen utensils on Dhanteras? There are two popular legends associated with this thought.
According to the first, Dhanteras is the day when churning of the ocean took place between Gods and demons. During this process, 14 gems were obtained one by one. Goddess Lakshmi is considered to be one of those 14 gems. Along with her Lord Dhanvantari was also born. When he appeared, he had a brass urn in his hand containing nectar. And with that started the tradition of buying utensils on the day of Dhanteras.
Another story revolves around the son of King Hima whose horoscope predicted that he would die from a snake bite on the fourth day of his marriage. To counter the prediction, King Hima’s daughter-in-law didn’t allow her husband to sleep all day. She sang to him so he wouldn’t fall asleep and even kept her jewellery and ornaments near the door along with lit lamps. When Lord Yama, the God of death came to claim his life in the form of a serpent, he could not enter as he got blinded by the gleam of all the jewellery. Even after several attempts, when he could not kill Hima’s son, he left the young couple and returned to his abode.
But it was actually not jewellery but the weight of the metal placed at the door that forbade Yama to claim the life of King Hima’s son. And that is why on Dhanteras, people either buy gold or silver jewellery or copper, brass, and silver utensils.
According to astrology, buying aluminium and iron is also considered inauspicious. Therefore, if you are buying utensils on Dhanteras, they could be of any metal but avoid steel, plastic or glass.