Dhanteras is celebrated on which lunar tithi?

Dhanteras is celebrated on Trayodashi, the thirteenth lunar tithi of the waning fortnight.

The festival is also called Dhanatrayodashi: dhana refers to wealth, while trayodashi means “thirteenth.” It begins the Diwali festival in much of India and is observed during Krishna Paksha, the dark or waning half of the lunar month. Depending on the calendar tradition, the month may be called Ashvin or Kartika.

Dhanteras is strongly associated with Dhanvantari, the divine physician and a figure connected with Ayurveda. A popular origin story says that Dhanvantari emerged from the cosmic ocean of milk during the Samudra Manthana, carrying a pot of amrita, the nectar of immortality.

People commonly buy gold, silver, utensils, or other valuables on Dhanteras because new metal goods are considered auspicious. Lamps may also be lit for Yama, the god of death. Trayodashi should not be confused with Chaturdashi, the fourteenth lunar day observed on Naraka Chaturdashi, the following Diwali day.