Dhanteras falls on Friday 6 November 2026. Choti Diwali is the 7th, Diwali and Lakshmi Puja the 8th, Govardhan Puja the 9th and Bhai Dooj the 10th. If you buy metal once a year, this is the week.
Why silver, and why that day
Dhanteras is a compound of dhan, wealth, and teras, the thirteenth day of the lunar fortnight. The custom of bringing new metal into the house on that day is old and specific: it is not decoration, it is the household making a statement about the year ahead. Silver has always been the accessible half of that tradition. Gold marks it, silver makes it possible for everyone.
There is also a practical layer. Silver is the one precious metal that gets used rather than stored — the vilakku gets lit, the idol gets bathed, the padam sits at the door. Households that buy silver on Dhanteras tend to end up with objects still in daily use forty years later.
What belongs in the pooja itself
Four things, in rough order of how often we are asked for them.
Lakshmi and Kuber. Lakshmi is the obvious one. Kuber is the one people forget — he is the treasurer of the gods, and Dhanteras is traditionally his day as much as hers. A silver Kuber idol placed alongside Lakshmi is the traditionally complete arrangement.
A silver vilakku. The lamp lit first on Diwali evening. A sterling silver vilakku is a substantial purchase, but it is the object most likely to be handed down, and it is used every festival for the rest of its life rather than once a year.
Lakshmi Padam. The divine footsteps, placed at the entrance facing inward, so that the goddess is understood to be walking into the house rather than out of it. Small, inexpensive relative to an idol, and among the most-requested pieces we make in the run-up to Diwali.
A framed deity panel. For homes where the pooja shelf is already full, a framed silver panel hangs on the wall and takes no shelf space. The Lakshmi-Ganesh-Saraswathi triad is the standard festive choice.
What to gift
The rule that has held for generations: gift something the person will use, in a metal that lasts. That is why silver gifting survives while most other gift categories churn.
Under 5,000 covers toe rings, brooches and lapel pins, and small pooja pieces — the range for colleagues, extended family and the people who drop in during the week. Between 5,000 and 10,000, pendant sets and small idols work for close family. Above that you are into temple jewellery and larger idols, which are the pieces people actually remember receiving.
One thing worth saying plainly: weight matters more than size in silver gifting, and it is the number sellers are least keen to publish. Ask for it.
When to order
Order by 30 October if you need it in hand for Dhanteras on 6 November. Courier networks across India slow down materially in the last week of October as festive volume peaks, and insured shipments of high-value metal are not something to rush.
For heavier pieces — vilakku, large idols, temple jewellery — earlier is better still, and we would rather show you the piece on a video call before you commit than have you guess from photographs. Most of what we make exists in a quantity of one, so once a piece is gone it is not restocked.
Everything relevant to the festival is gathered in one place: Dhanteras and Diwali silver.