Dussehra festival is round the corner. Also known as Vijayadashami, it is one of the major Hindu festivals celebrated across the country. Dussehra 2021 is falling on October 15, Friday. Dussehra marks the end of Navratri and signifies the victory of good over evil as Lord Ram had defeated Lanka king Ravana. People also celebrate this day to mark the victory of Goddess Durga over demon Mahishasur.

SIGNIFICANCE OF DUSSEHRA

The name Dussehra is derived from Sanskrit words dasha (ten) and hara (defeat). It signifies the victory of Ram over Ravan (the 10-headed demon king). Dussehra or Vijayadashmi is celebrated on the 10th day of Ashvin month (September-October) of the Hindu calendar. Dussehra also marks the culmination of the nine-day Navratri festival. Dussehra, for many, marks the beginning of preparation for the Diwali festival – when Lord Ram returned to Ayodhya – which falls 20 days after Dussehra.

CELEBRATIONS AND RITUALS

A precursor to Diwali, people celebrate Dussehra with all fanfare and full religious zeal. Hindu devotees in North India organise Ramleela – a theatrical enactment of Lord Ram’s life story – in the days leading to, and on Dussehra. On Dussehra, massive effigies of Ravan, sometimes along with his son Meghand and brother Kumbhkaran, are set ablaze in open grounds.

In West Bengal, people celebrate the occasion as Durga Puja festival to mark the Goddess’s victory over demon Mahishasur. Devotees worship Durga at various theme-based pandals.

In Gujarat, people celebrate the festival through garba – the famous folk dance of the state. Both during Navratri and on Dussehra, people wear colorful clothes and celebrate the festival to the max.

In South India, people bring home idols of Goddesses Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. Married women also visit each other’s houses and exchange gifts like coconut, betel nuts and even money.

MUHURAT TIME

According to, the Vijay Muhurat time is from 2:02 pm to 2:47 pm, while the Aparahna Puja time will start at 1:16 pm and end at 3:33 pm.

The Dashami Tithi begins at 6:52 pm on October 14 and ends at 6:02 pm on October 15.

Mythological Significance

Victory of Lord Rama over Ravana

As per our Hindu mythology, the day Lord Ram killed Ravan who abducted Ram’s wife Sita is celebrated as “Vijaya Dashami”.

The term Vijaya Dashmi is made from two words Vijay and Dashmi. As per our Hindu Calendar the day when Ram defeated and killed Ravana was Ashwin ( Hindi Month) Shukla Dashami (Tenth day of month). Hence the name originated. Many people perform “Aditya Homa” as a “Shanti Yagna” on the day of Dussehra.

These Yagna performances are thought to create powerful agents in the atmosphere surrounding the house that will keep the household environment clean and healthy. These rituals are intended to rid the household of the ten bad qualities, which are represented by 10 heads of Ravana as follows:

1. Kama vasana (Lust)
2. Krodha (Anger)
3. Moha (Attraction )
4. Lobha (Greed)
5. Mada (Over Pride)
6. Matsara (Jealousy)
7. Swartha (Selfishness)
8. Anyaaya (Injustice)
9. Amanavata (Cruelty)
10. Ahankara (Ego).

Victory of Durga Maa over Mahishasura

This is again a well known reason for celebrating Dussehra. One Asura, Mahishasur, in the form of a buffalo, grew very powerful and created havoc on the earth.

Under his leadership, the Asuras defeated the Devas. To fight against Mahishasura’s tyranny, the Devas joined their energies into Shakti, a single mass of incandescent energy.

A very powerful band of lightning emerged from the mouths of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and a young, beautiful female with ten hands appeared.

All the Gods gave their special weapons to her. This Shakti coalesced to form the goddess Durga. Riding on a lion, who assisted her, Durga fought Mahishasur.

The battle raged for nine days and nights. Finally on the tenth day of Ashvin shukla paksha, Mahishasur was defeated and killed by Durga. Hence we celebrate this day as victory over evil.

Homecoming of Parvati

Do you know about this? I came to know about it recently when I was reading about Dussehra. Okay so Parvati was Sati in her previous birth. Sati was a great devotee of Shiva and prayed for getting Shiva as her husband. Being pleased with her worship, Shiva married her. Sati’s father was against this marriage but couldn’t prevent it.

Dasksh arranged a Yagna in which he invited everyone except Shiva. Being ashamed of by his father’s act and seeing the insult of her husband by father Dasksh, she jumped in the fire of Yagna and killed herself. Lord Shiva was anguished when he came to know this. He lifted Sati’s body on his shoulders and started dancing. As the supreme power was dancing with wrath, the world was on the verge of destruction. Then Lord Vishu came forward as a savior and used his Chakra to cut Sati’s body into pieces. Those pieces fell from the shoulders of the dancing Shiva and scattered throughout the Indian subcontinent. Shiva was pacified when the last piece fell from his shoulder. In her next birth, Sati was born as Parvati, the daughter of Himavat, ruler of the Himalayas. Lord Vishnu asked Shiva to forgive Daksha. Ever since, peace was restored and Parvati visits her parents of previous birth each year during the season of Sharatkal or autumn, when Durga-Puja is celebrated.

End of Agyatawas of Pandavas

In the age of Dvapara Yuga, Pandavas lost to Kauravas in a game of dice, and spent twelve years of Vanawas, or exile to the forest, followed by one year of Agnyatawas(exile incognito).

The brothers hid their weapons in a hole in a Shami tree before entering the Kingdom of Virat to complete the final year of Agnyatawas .After that year, on “Vijaya Dashami”, they recovered the weapons, declared their true identities and defeated Kauravas, who had attacked King Virat to steal his cattle.

Since that day, Shami trees and weapons have been worshiped and the exchange of Shami leaves on Dussehra has been a symbol of good will and victory.

Mysore Dussehra or Dasara : Mysore Dasara or Dussehra is the Nadahabba (state festival) of the state of Karnataka in India. It is a 10-day festival, starting with nine nights called Navaratri and the last day being Vijayadashami. The festival is observed on the tenth day in the Hindu calendar month of Ashvin, which typically falls in the Gregorian months of September and October.

The Hindu festival of Dasara, Navratri and Vijayadashami celebrates the victory of good over evil. It was the day in the Hindu legends when Goddess Chamundeshwari (Durga) killed the demon Mahishasura. Mahishasura is the demon whose slaying by the Goddess gave the city the name Mysuru. The Mysuru tradition celebrates the warriors and the state fighting for the good during this festival, ritually worshipping and displaying the state sword, weapons, elephants, horses along with Hindu Devi goddess in her warrior form (predominantly) as well as the Vishnu avatar Rama. The ceremonies and a major procession is traditionally presided by the king of Mysuru.

The city of Mysuru has a long tradition of celebrating the Dasara festival with grandeur and pomp to mark the festival. The Dasara festival in Mysuru completed 409th anniversary in the year 2019, while evidence suggests the festivities were observed in Karnataka state by the Vijayanagara Empire kings in the 15th century.

History

The Dasara festivities began with the Vijayanagar kings as early as the 15th Century. The festival played a historical role in the 14th-century Vijayanagara Empire, where it was called Mahanavami and the festivities are shown in the relief artwork of the outer wall of the Hazara Rama temple of Hampi.

The Italian traveller Niccolò de’ Conti described the festival’s intensity and importance as a grandeur religious and martial event with royal support. The event revered Durga as the warrior goddess (some texts refer to her as Chamundeshwari). The celebrations hosted athletic competitions, singing and dancing, fireworks, a pageantry military parade and charitable giving to the public.

After the fall of the Vijayanagar to Deccan Sultanates, these Hindu celebrations came to an end under Muslim rulers. The Wodeyars of Mysore formed a kingdom in Southern parts of the Vijayanagara Empire and continued the Mahanavami (Dasara) festival celebration, a tradition started initially by Raja Wodeyar I (1578-1617 CE) in mid September 1610 at Srirangapatna.

Festivities

The festivities included a special durbar (royal assembly). It was during the reign of Krishnaraja Wodeyar III in the year 1805, when the king started the tradition of having a special durbar in the Mysore Palace during Dasara; which was attended by members of the royal family, special invitees, officials and the masses. After the death of Srikanta Wadiyar in December 2013, this tradition has been continued by placing the “Pattada Katti” (royal sword) on the golden throne. The ninth day of Dasara called as Mahanavami is also an auspicious day on which the royal sword is worshipped and is taken on a procession involving elephants, camels and horses.

Lightings in Mysore Palace

The main attraction of the ten-day Mysore Dasara festival is the Mysore Palace which is lighted daily with nearly 100,000 light bulbs from 7 pm to 10 pm on all days of the festival. Various cultural and religious programs highlighting the dance, music and culture of the State of Karnataka are performed in front of the illuminated Palace.

Procession

On Vijayadashami, the traditional Dasara procession (locally known as Jumboo Savari) is held on the streets of Mysore city. The main attraction of this procession is the idol of the Goddess Chamundeshwari which is placed on a golden mantapa (which is around 750 kilograms of gold) on the top of a decorated elephant. This idol is worshipped by the royal couple and other invitees before it is taken around in the procession.

Colorful tableaux, dance groups, music bands, decorated elephants, horses and camels form a part of the procession which starts from the Mysore Palace and culminates at a place called Bannimantap where the banni tree (Prosopis spicigera) is worshipped. According to a legend of the Mahabharata, banni tree was used by the Pandavas to hide their weapons during their one-year period of Agnatavasa (living life incognito). Before undertaking any warfare, the kings traditionally worshipped this tree to help them emerge victorious in the war. The Dasara festivities would culminate on the night of Vijayadashami with an event held in the grounds at Bannimantap called as Panjina Kavayatthu (torch-light parade).

In Mysore, India, the Vijayadashami Elephant procession during Mysore Dasara is called Jumbo Savari (from the British during their control of Mysore State). The original name to this procession is Jumbi Savari (“going to the Shami (Banni) tree”). Now Goddess Chamundeshwari is taken in procession on an Elephant. But the “Jumbo” name is still intact.

After the Jamboo Savari, a torchlight parade takes place in the evening at the Bannimantap Parade Grounds.

Kullu Dussehra

Kullu, the “Valley of Gods”, is one of the most breathtakingly beautiful parts of Himachal Pradesh. This serene hill town of Northern India is famous for attracting visitors from far and wide. Also known as “Kulanthapitha”, the valley has always been a favourite destination for travellers to experience the mystical land and rustic way of life.

The valley is also renowned for its grand Dussehra celebrations; the festival of a triumph of good over evil. Kullu Dussehra was declared an international event in 1972 and is witnessed by around 4-5 Lac people from across the globe.

Kullu Dussehra 2020 Dates

Dussehra is celebrated on the tenth day of Navratri i.e. on Vijay Dashmi day, around the month of October according to the Gregorian calendar. Kullu Dussehra is slightly different because its celebrations begin when the rest of the country closes the nine-day long festival. This year, Kullu Dussehra would be organised from 15th October to 21st October, 2021. Dussehra in Kullu is a week-long festival, which is famous for its large number of visitors and grand celebrations.

Processions and Celebrations

Dussehra in Kullu valley is a much-awaited and celebrated festival. This week-long festival starts with a procession of Lord Raghunath, along with other deities, carried on a Ratha across the town. The village gods and minor deities are also a part of this celebration. The centre of the festivities is the Dhalpur maidan. The pleasant weather and breathtaking beauty of the valley along with the celebrations fill the visitors with eternal happiness and satisfaction. The festival gets merrier with dancing, drinking and feasting for a week. The Kala Kendra festival is held at night where several activities and cultural events take place. Thousands of people from all over the country and world visit this place during Dussehra. The festival is very well organized which only makes the experience worth remembering.

Last Day of Celebrations of Kullu Dussehra Festival

On the 6th day of the festival, an assembly of village Devtas takes place which is definitely a sight which one must watch. The last day of the celebrations is marked by sacrifices; a fish, a crab, a rooster, a buffalo and a lamb are sacrificed and a huge bonfire is lit. These mega-festival witnesses the worshipping of around 250-300 idols from the adjoining villages of Kullu. The idol of Ragunath Ji is brought back to its original place through a grand procession. Various cultural processions from different countries are invited, almost like the processions during our national festivals. Thus one can see the difference between the Kullu Dussehra and the Dussehra being celebrated in different parts of the country. The grandeur and celebration at Kullu Dussehra is something which every visitor here will always treasure.