Dhanteras, the first day of 5-day-long
Diwali festival, witnessed brisk buying in the city, on Friday. Heavy rush was
witnessed at Sarafa, Bartan Bazaar and some auto showrooms.
Most roads leading to prominent markets in
the city saw large crowd. Shops and showrooms especially those selling gold and
utensil were well prepared to welcome the customers. Those who missed the
opportunity of buying on the auspicious occasion of Pushya Nakshatra on Oct 22
also joined the Dhanteras crowd.
With such market rush, people were often
stuck in market for 30 minutes to an hour depending upon the time in slow
moving traffic and occasional jams.
According to Pt Chandan Bairagi, Dhanteras
is the festival of God of Wealth, Kuber. Hence traditionally buying valuable
and needy items on Dhanteras is considered as good omen. Thus, large number of
people thronged the markets.
According to president of Sarafa Bazar
Association, Hukum Soni, heavy rush of buyers was witnessed this time. He
stated that most of the buyers had already selected their items with a promise
of payment and delivery on ‘Dhanteras’.
Accordingly heavy rush of such buyers was
seen. Besides traditional gold market Sarafa, rush was also seen on other small
bullion markets, Rajwada and Malwa Mill area.
A
jewellery vendor Anand Sharma said, “The sales were rather quick, as many
buyers knew what they wanted and quickly picked out their selected designs.”