Navaratri 2022: History and Significance of Dusshera

New Delhi: Dusshera or Vijaydashami falls on the tenth day of the Sharad Navaratri festivities. The Hindu festival is observed on the Shukla Paksha Dashmi during the month of Ashwin on the day after Maha Navami or at the end of Shard Navratri, according to the Hindu calendar.

This year the day will be observed on Wednesday, October 05, 2022, and marks an official end of Navaratri that began on September 26, 2022.

The term Dusshera is commonly used in North India whereas term Viyadashami is more popular in West Bengal. People celebrate the festival by partaking in Ramlila that is enacted across cities, visiting fairs, and watching the Ravan effigies burn.

Dusshera signifies the victory of good forces over evil forces. Two anecdotes from the Hindu mythology are associated with the festival. It is believed that goddess Durga defeated a buffalo-demon named Mahishasura on this day. The two were engaged in a fierce battle that lasted more than nine days.

Another mythology holds that the festival of Dusshera is celebrated to mark the victory of Lord Rama over the ten-headed Demon King of Lanka, Ravana.

Dusshera is observed and celebrated with much fanfare as people throng to open grounds and witness the huge effigies of Ravana, Kumbhkarana, and Meghnada that are erected. The effigies of these famously known Demons signify evil.

Certain rituals are performed before publicly burning the effigies. The Indian Prime Minister burns the Ravana effigy in New Delhi every year on Dusshera.

Dusshehra also signifies getting rid of sins or bad qualities as each head of the Ravana symbolized a bad quality.

The tenth day is also known as Vijayadashmi, where idols of goddess Durga are immersed in water. The devotees chant a prayer before immersion in hopes that the goddess wards off evils and miseries in their lives.

Both Dussehra and Vijayadashmi mark the victory of good over evil. Devotees enjoy the festival by preparing and relishing festive delicacies and spending the day with family and friends.

 (Avya Mathur)