The Festival of Dussehra

India is a colourful land of festivals. Several festivals are celebrated in India from time to time with great pomp and show. One of the most important festivals of the Hindus is “Dusshera”. The word Dussehra is a variant of Dashahara which is a compound Sanskrit word composed of "dasham" and "ahar". Dasham means "10" and "Ahar means day". Dusshera is populary known by various names such as Dasahara, Dasara, Vijaydashmi, Dussehra or Dashain.

It is celebrated to mark the end of the auspicious Navratri. It falls on the tenth day in the Hindu calendar month of Ashvin, the seventh month of the Hindu Luni-Solar Calendar, which usually falls in the Gregorian months of September and October. This festival is celebrated in different parts of India in different ways and for different reasons. In the southern, eastern and northeastern states of India, the festival has its significance because of the victory of Goddess Durga over the buffalo demon Mahishasura to help restore dharma. This festival is celebrated at the end of Durga Puja. As far as the northern and the western states are concerned, Dussehra is celebrated to mark the end of "Ramlila" and remember God Rama's victory over the Ravana. It is believed that on this day Arjuna had bravely defeated entire Kaurava army consisting of 100,000s of soldiers, Bhishma, Drona, Karna, Ashwatthama, Kripa, Duryodhana, Dushyasana, Shakuni etc. - there by significantly quoting an example of victory of Good (Dharma) over evil (Adharma). In few parts of India, on this day people go to a river or ocean carrying clay statues of Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha and Kartikeya, accompanied by music and chants. The idols of the Gods and Goddesses are immersed in the water in order to say Good bye to them. In other parts of India, effigies of Ravana are burnt to mark a victory of good over evil. It is believed that the evil is destroyed with the help of fireworks. With the coming of this festival, the excitement starts for the arrival of the festival of Diwali. Diwali, the festival of lights is celebrated twenty days after Dussehra. The festival of Dussehra teaches us a beautiful lesson that no matter how much evil is there but one day it will come to an end. The end will always be good. The one with good intentions will only thrive. We all must learn from this lesson and should bravely face the evil that comes our way at various stages in our life.

By: Anuja Arora

Content: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijayadashami