Dhanteras celebrated ahead of Diwali

On the auspicious occasion of Dhanteras, several Bollywood stars including Amitabh Bachchan, Sridevi and Arjun Rampal, wished their fans peace, health and prosperity. Dhanteras marks the first day of the Diwali celebrations, On this day, Goddess Lakshmi is worshiped for prosperity and well being. Dhanteras holds special significance for the business community due to the customary purchases of precious metals on this day. "Dhanteras! a day when new utensils, machine goods are bought... may we buy peace and prosperity and well being among us all!" Bachchan tweeted. "Wish you all a very Happy Dhanteras," Sridevi posted. 'Ra.One' actor Arjun Rampal, while wishing everyone Happy Dhanteras, wrote, "Happy Dhanteras. Off to a Diwali party." Actress Ameesha Patel wished fans a desi Dhanteras. "Wissing all my tweethearts all over the world a desi magical dhanteras... lots of love and loads of dhan to all," she tweeted. "Happy Dhanteras to everyone.. may Goddess Lakshmi bless all with health, well being and prosperity," wrote actor Aftab Shivdasani. Singer-actress Sophie Choudry took the opportunity to wish everyone good health. "Happy Dhanteras to my beautiful twitter family! Health, wealth and happiness to you all!" she wrote on her Twitter page. Divya Dutta, Manoj Bajpai, Richa Chaddha, Manish Paul and Bhagyashree also posted Dhanteras greeting for their fans. Girls gets their hands decorated with 'Mehndi' design ahead of Diwali festival on the occasion of 'Dhanteras' in New Delhi on Tuesday evening.