2015
Sunday, 8 November 2015
In 2015 the tithi runs from 4:31 pm on 8 Nov to 7:06 pm on 9 Nov, so it is running at pradosh, the twilight just after sunset on two days, Sunday, 8 November 2015 and Monday, 9 November 2015. As in most almanacs, the first is taken.
2016
Thursday, 27 October 2016
In 2016 the tithi runs from 4:15 pm on 27 Oct to 6:20 pm on 28 Oct, so it is running at pradosh, the twilight just after sunset on two days, Thursday, 27 October 2016 and Friday, 28 October 2016. As in most almanacs, the first is taken.
How the date is fixed
Dhanteras falls on the thirteenth day of the dark half of the lunar month Ashwina (Krishna Trayodashi). The date is the day on which that tithi is running at pradosh, the twilight just after sunset. In the North Indian (purnimanta) calendar the same fortnight is counted in Kartika.
About
Dhanteras falls on the thirteenth tithi of the dark half of Ashwina in amanta reckoning (Kartika Krishna Trayodashi in the north), two days before Diwali, in October or November. The governing period is pradosh, the hour and a half after sunset, so the day whose dusk carries Trayodashi is chosen. The day is also Dhanvantari Jayanti, the birth of the physician of the gods, and the evening of the Yama deepa, a lamp placed outside the door. Buying metal utensils on this day is the familiar custom.
How it is observed
Lakshmi and Dhanvantari worship at pradosh, a lamp for Yama outside the door, and the purchase of utensils or metal.