What to Buy on Dhanteras: A Guide for Families in the US

Dhanteras is Friday, November 6, 2026, two days before Diwali. The traditional purchases are gold, silver, or something new for the kitchen, and in the evening a lamp is lit for Yama. For gold, bought from the US, it mostly comes down to a bar or a piece of jewelry. The bar is 24 karat, .9999 fine, with the weight and purity printed on its sealed card. Jewelry is commonly 22 karat, around 91.7% gold. Both are traditional. They just aren't the same object, and they aren't priced the same way.

We run Collect Pure, a marketplace for bullion and coins, so the buying section near the end points there. Every date and custom below links to where it came from.

Dhanteras 2026 falls on Friday, November 6

It moves every year. The lunar calendar sets it: the thirteenth day of the dark half of Karttika, Britannica says, so some years it's October and some years November. 2026 is a late one. Then Sunday the 8th is Lakshmi Puja, Diwali's main night, and Bhai Dooj on Tuesday the 10th ends the five days.

The time matters as much as the date. Families do the puja in the evening, after sunset where they live. An Indian timing won't help you in Ohio. Here's what Drik Panchang gives for 2026:

Delhi's evening is New York's breakfast: 7:32 to 9:27 a.m. Most US clocks fall back on November 1, so that week the gap is ten and a half hours.

Anywhere else, set the panchang to your own city or go by your temple's calendar. Drik Panchang also lists Yama Deepam, the lamp for Yama, on the same Friday evening.

What Dhanteras marks, and what the name means

Dhan means "wealth." Teras means "thirteenth," for the lunar day. The longer name, Dhantrayodashi, comes from the Sanskrit dhana and trayodashi, per Britannica. You will also see the day called Dhanvantari Jayanti.

That second name points to Dhanvantari, physician of the gods and god of Ayurveda. In the churning of the ocean he comes up out of the water carrying a golden pot of amrita. Lakshmi rose from the same churning on the same night, as the Hindu American Foundation's festival guide notes, and the two are honored differently. People in medicine give thanks to Dhanvantari. People in trade and business hold ceremonies for Lakshmi, whose own great night is still two days off.

India tied a national observance to all this. National Ayurveda Day was held on Dhanteras every year from 2016 to 2024. In 2025 the government pinned it to September 23 instead. The Ministry of Ayush's reason: a fixed date gives Ayurveda "a global calendar identity." A lunar date that drifts by weeks couldn't do that.

Sources don't all count the days the same way. Most make Dhanteras the first of five. The Hindu American Foundation starts a day earlier, with Govatsa Dvadashi, and gets six.

Gold, silver, and new utensils: the traditional Dhanteras purchases

Something new, preferably in metal. That's the custom in short. All India Radio, India's public broadcaster, calls it the day for new purchases, gold or silver articles and new utensils above all, and mentions heavy buying of appliances and cars too. Dhanvantari, Kubera and Lakshmi are worshipped. Britannica adds house cleaning to the list.

What families actually buy depends a lot on the family and the region. Often it's small. A gold coin or a few grams of gold, a silver coin, a new pot for the kitchen. Jewelry is a common Dhanteras purchase as well.

We're describing the custom and leaving what it means to the people who keep it. Nothing here is a claim about what gold or silver will be worth later.

24 karat bar or 22 karat jewelry

Karat is gold counted in 24ths. Twenty-four of 24 is fine gold. Twenty-two of 24 works out to about 91.7%, and that's the 916 you see in an Indian hallmark. The rest is other metal, added because fine gold is soft.

US labeling is strict. Under the FTC's jewelry rules, anything sold as plain "gold" should be 24 karat throughout, and an alloy should carry its karat in front of the word, as in "14K Gold." So a 22K tag at a US jeweler tells you exactly how much of the piece is gold.

Pricing is where they really split. In India, gold rates are quoted per 10 grams, and the rates the India Bullion and Jewellers Association publishes leave out making charges. On jewelry the work is billed on top of the metal, and it varies piece to piece. A bar has no making charge. You pay the spot price times its weight, plus a premium for minting and packaging.

For Dhanteras, neither one is the wrong answer. Something to wear means jewelry. Something to keep, and take out now and then, is simpler to buy from far away as a bar: one weight, one purity, printed on a card the refiner sealed.

Buying gold or silver for Dhanteras from the US

PAMP Suisse, the Swiss refiner, makes gold bars for Diwali, all .9999 fine and sealed in an assay card. The 2025 design shows Lakshmi with rangoli art, and 2026's pairs her with the sacred cow. Pure lists five:

• 5 gram PAMP Diwali gold bar

• 10 gram PAMP Diwali gold bar. Ten grams is the unit India quotes gold in.

• 25 gram Diwali Lakshmi Multigram: 25 one-gram units on one card, each registered and sealed on its own

• 1 ounce Diwali Lakshmi bar

• 1 ounce Diwali Sacred Cow bar, the 2026 design

Those ounces are troy ounces, 31.1 grams each, a bit heavier than what your kitchen scale calls an ounce. Expect the small bars to cost more per gram. The cost of striking and packaging a bar doesn't fall in step with its weight. The PAMP Diwali bar guide goes through the designs year by year, and our Diwali gift ideas list puts them next to the more traditional presents. All five are together on the Diwali gold bars page. Pure is an independent marketplace and isn't affiliated with PAMP.

How buying works on Pure

Each product gets its own order book, with every seller's ask and every buyer's bid out in the open. Take the lowest ask and the bar is yours at that price. Or bid your own number and wait for a seller to meet it.

You pay once your order matches, by ACH or wire. Cards work only on Pure Priority orders, with a 2.9% surcharge. Buyers pay no marketplace fee. Shipping is $25 under $10,000 and free from $10,000 up, and shipments are insured both ways up to $125,000. Whatever the card says, we test every item ourselves before it ships to you, down to the metal's exact composition, and what passes ships as Pure Qualified.

Account setup includes an ID check of about 15 minutes. There's no minimum order, and Pure ships to US addresses only. Testing takes time, insured shipping takes time, and a bid can sit a while before a seller meets it. If the gold is for the Friday evening puja, leave some room between ordering and the day.

Silver for Dhanteras

Pure has no Diwali-themed silver listed. For plain .999 fine silver, the silver bars page starts at 1 ounce. Shopping for a Lakshmi or Ganesh silver coin somewhere else? Read the listing slowly. Some Diwali coins sold online are silver plated, a thin coat over a different metal. Look for a stated fineness (.999, or .925 if it's sterling) and a weight. If either is missing, ask. The checks in how to tell if gold is real work on plated metal generally.

Dhanteras questions

Is Dhanteras on the same day in the US as in India?

This year it is. Drik Panchang puts Dhanteras on Friday, November 6 in New York, Los Angeles and New Delhi, and Lakshmi Puja on Sunday the 8th in all three. The puja times are what change, since each follows local sunset, so use a panchang set to your city.

What is the difference between Dhanteras and Diwali?

Dhanteras comes first. Dhanvantari, Kubera and Lakshmi are worshipped that day, and Diwali's main night, Lakshmi Puja, follows two days later.

Can you buy a Lakshmi gold coin in the US?

Not on Pure. The Diwali pieces here are all PAMP Suisse bars, 5 grams up to an ounce. Same .9999 gold, same Lakshmi imagery people usually want from a coin.

See all five Diwali bars together, each with its current asks.