It is believed that the celebration of Dussehra started in the 17th century, when the king of Mysore ordered the celebration of the day on a grand scale. Ever since, the day is celebrated with great fervor and energy. There are a lot of mythological tales associated with the day. According to Ramayana, Ravana was killed by Lord Rama on this day as revenge against the cruel act of kidnapping Goddess Sita by the former. Mythology also has it that Goddess Durga killed demon Mahishasura after a long spell of cruelty and oppression by Mahishasura. Another story associated with the origins of this day is the raining of gold coins. After Kautsa asked King Raghu for 140 million coins to give an offering to his Guru in return for his knowledge, Raghuraja went to Indra for help who then asked Lord Kuber to rain coins on the city of Ayodhya. After giving 140 million coins to his Guru, Kautsa distributed the rest to the people of Ayodhya.
Largely, the day is celebrated to commemorate the prevalence of good over evil. The day is celebrated on a large scale in India as well as in Bangladesh. The most famous Dussehra celebrations in India are those in the city of Mysore. Goddess Chamundeshwari is worshipped on this day and a grand procession of her idol is taken out across the city. Major buildings are decorated with lights and color across the city.
Other famous Dussehra celebrations in India include that of Kullu in Himachal Pradesh, Kolkata and Orissa, where the festival is preceded by week long celebrations. People visit the Pooja Pandals wearing new clothes, prepare traditional food at home and celebrate the festival with their friends and families. In most other parts of India, plays are organized across cities depicting the story of Ramayana which culminates in the killing of Ravana on this day. Statues of Ravana are burnt everywhere in India on Dussehra and in Delhi, the event is attended by political dignitaries in the Ramlila Maidan.
Legend behind Dussehra Festival
The pious Hindu epic Ramayana unfolds the legendary tale of Lord Rama winning his beloved wife Sita, who was abducted by demon Ravana, the emperor of Lanka.
According to Hindu mythology, Shoorpnakha, the sister of Ravana, fell in love with Rama and Lakshmana (Rama’s younger brother), and wanted to marry any one of them. After being refused by both, she threatened them to kill Sita. Lakshamana, in anger, cut her ears and nose. This lead to Ravana abducting Sita in order to take revenge of her sister. To rescue Sita, Rama and Lakshmana fought a battle with Ravana in Lanka. Lord Hanuman and an enormous army of monkeys helped the brothers.
There is also a reference associated with the celebration of Dussehra festival in the great epic Mahabharata. With different unique weapons, Pandavas fought with several evil forces. These five brothers abandoned their weaponries and left into one-year exile. After returning from exile, they found their weapons under the Shami Tree under which they had buried them before going off for exile. Pandavas worshipped the tree before their battle in which they emerged victorious. This legend is also memorialized at the time of Dussehra Festival.
Celebrations of Dussehra in India
Dussehra is celebrated in a distinct way with great fervor across the nation. The different methods of celebrating this festival in different regions are:
Celebrating Dussehra in North India
Dussehra is normally celebrated by flaming the effigies of Ravana, Meghanatha and Kumbhakarna. With this burning, the play Ramleela, displaying the story of Ramayana, also comes to an end. Generally, a fete is also organized for the people. Three individuals enacting Rama, Lakshamana and Sita sitting on a chariot, pass through the crowd. The artist performing Rama’s role aims the arrow in order to burn all the three effigies separately.
Celebrating Dussehra in South India
Dussehra is celebrated in a distinctive manner in the Southern part of India. On this festive day, toys and dolls are decorated in all the houses. This ritual had commenced from the abode of emperors in erstwhile era. This day is popular as Gombe Habba in South India. In olden times, Dussehra was limited to the well-off people. However, it gained regard with time and reached to the common people as well.
Celebrating Dussehra in Gujarat
The people of Gujarat assemble and dance on each night during Navaratri. Several competitions are held on the Dussehra festival and men and women perform a unique Gujarati dance ‘Garba’ on devotional songs. This dance continues till late night. In various places, this dance continues even till the break of dawn. Women put on their best clothes and decorate earthen pots wonderfully.
Celebrating Dussehra in Mysore
In Mysore, several fairs and cultural performances are organized. The grand parade of bedecked elephants and guards sitting on a horseback, escort the idol of Goddess through the city. This parade is the major highlight of the ten-day celebration of Dussehra in Mysore.
Celebrating Dussehra in Kullu
In Kullu, chariots are decorated with amazing hues. Goddess deities are taken around on these beautiful chariots and people dance with joy and elation to rejoice the festive day of Dussehra.
What Do People Do?
Many people of the Hindu faith observe Dussehra through special prayer meetings and food offerings to the gods at home or in temples throughout India. They also hold outdoor fairs (melas) and large parades with effigies of Ravana (a mythical king of ancient Sri Lanka). The effigies are burnt on bonfires in the evening. Dussehra is the culmination of the Navaratri festival.
There are many local celebrations in some areas in India that can last for up to 10 days. Local events include:
- Performances of the Ramlila(a short version of the epic Ramayana) in Northern India.
- A large festival and procession including the goddess Chamundeshwari on a throne mounted on elephants in the town of Mysore in the state of Karnataka.
- The blessing of household and work-related tools, such as books, computers, cooking pans and vehicles in the state of Karnataka.
- The preparation of special foods, including luchi(deep fried flat bread) and alur dom (deep fried spiced potato snacks), in Bengal.
Many Hindus also believe that it is lucky to start a new venture, project or journey on Dussehra. They may also exchange gifts of leaves from the Shami tree (Prosopis spicigera) as a symbol of the story of the Pandavas brothers’ exile in the Mahabharata stories.
Symbols
Symbols seen throughout the Dussehra/Vijaya Dashami celebrations include:
- Bonfires and fireworks
- Paper and wood effigies of Ravana.
- Red spots (tika) painted on people’s foreheads.
- The effigies of Ravana are often burnt on the bonfires.