Dussehra
INTRODUCTION
The festival of Dussehra, also known as "Vijayadashmi"
is one of the fascinating festivals of India and is celebrated
with joy and enthusiasm for ten continuous days. Dussehra
literally means the tenth day. It marks the end of the nine
days of Navratri. The first nine nights are spent in the
worship of goddess Durga and hence these nights are known
as Navaratri. This festival falls in the month of Ashwin
(Sep - Oct). The tenth day of the Dussehra day is in honor
of Durga Devi.
THE LEGEND BEHIND THE CELEBRATIONS
• Dussehra is the day, when Rama killed Ravana and
won back his wife (Hence also called Vijayadashmi) who had
managed to save her honor from the dirty hands of Ravana
and was waiting anxiously to meet her husband.
• Dussehra is also reminiscent of the end of the exile
and banishment of the Pandava princes in the epic Mahabharata
and their return with their weapons to reclaim their kingdom.
• Vijayadashami is also celebrated as the day of victory
to rejoice about Durga's triumph over the demons led by
Mahishasura. It is essentially a festival in honor of Durga.
The Divine Mother fought with him for nine nights, and killed
him on the evening of the tenth day, known as the Vijaya
Dasami.
• Vijayadashami is also the day of the Saraswati or
the deity of knowledge and learning.
DESCRIPTION
Dussehra literally means that which takes away ten sins.
Dussehra is the most popular festival in India. It is a
Hindu festival, which is celebrated all over India to mark
the defeat of Ravana by Lord Rama. Dussera can also be interpreted
as "Dasa-Hara", which means the cutting of the
ten heads of Ravana. Dussehra also symbolises the triumph
of warrior Goddess Durga over the buffalo demon, Mahishasura.
The 'Ramlila' - an enactment of the life of Lord Rama, is
held during the nine days preceding Dussehra. On the tenth
day (Dussehra or Vijay Dasami), larger than life effigies
of Ravana, his son and brother -Meghnadh and Kumbhakarna
are set to fire. The theatrical enactments of this dramatic
encounter are held throughout the country in which every
section of people participates enthusiastically.
After the Ram Lila and the burning of the effigies of Ravana,
Kumbhakarna and Meghnath (right down to their curly moustaches),
the stars of the night – Rama, Sita and Lakshmana
are taken around in a huge chariot. Crowds of people shouting
Jai Shri Ram (Victory to Rama) join the procession. (The
processions of Mysore in Karnataka, and Ahmedabad in Gujarat
are especially spectacular).In burning the effigies the
people are asked to burn the evil within them, and thus
follow the path of truth and goodness, bearing in mind the
instance of Ravana, who despite all his might and majesty
was destroyed for his evil ways.
However, Bengalis celebrate this festival as a part of their
main festival Durga Puja. This day marks the end of Durga
Punja celebration, the first nine being collectively referred
to as 'Navratri'. The festival is dedicated to Mother Goddess
Shakti who incarnated in the form of Goddess Durga, a combined
manifestation of the divine energies of the Holy Trinity
- Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh and all the other devatas, when
they summoned her to kill the mighty demon known as Mahishasur
and free the world from his terror. On this day, the idols
of Goddess Durga are finally immersed into water after the
nine days of festivities. It is said that the people of
the earth here adopted Durga as the daughter and thus, she
visits the home of her parents every year during the last
four days of Navratri along with her sons Ganesha and Kartikeya
and daughters Lakshmi and Saraswati. She finally leaves
for her husband's place on the Vijayadashmi day.
TIME TO CELEBRATE
The festival is celebrated in October.
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