The festivities of the nine days of Navratri reach a crescendo today on Vijayadashmi, the tenth day of the tenth month of Ashwin. As one of the most auspicious days in the Hindu calendar and is steeped in layers of ancient traditions.
Vijayadashmi literally means ‘victory on the tenth day’. Legend has it that on this day King Rama killed the ten headed demon Ravana in Lanka. Hence the festival is also known as Dusherra, meaning das-harra or ten heads.
It is also the day when Durga is said to have slayed the demon Mahishasur ending a long raging battle. Thus Vijayadashmi celebrates the victory of good over evil. Not just in historical and mythical wars but also on the battlefield of life.
The Nine Nights of the Goddess symbolically end in the spiritual regeneration of every devotee and aspirant.
In another story, Hindus believe that during Navratri, Pravati the daughter of the mountains and the wife of Shiva comes to visit her parents. Before she departs on the ninth day to be re-united with Shiva in the Himalayas, she blesses her people with a bountiful harvest. For the end of Navratri marks the beginning of the last harvest before the long winter sets in.
In the cities away from the farmlands, it is the day to start all new ventures and strike new business deals. The day to buy gold and houses. A day that promises prosperity.
For artists and artisans whose wealth lies in their art, this is the day to worship their tools and instruments. In offices the ledgers and these days even computers are worshipped. Students lay out their books beautifully before Goddess Saraswati and worship them with kumkum and flowers.
It is a national holiday with different parts of India celebrating it in their own special way.
In the north of India and in Maharashtra Ram Lila, the story of Rama is enacted in the streets by drama troupes and ends in the burning of large effigies of the ten-headed Ravana.
artists perform the Ram Leela
An artist paints a giant Ravana effigy
-Giant effigies of Ravana are burnt as people gather to watch.
In the south of India, Saraswati, the Goddess of Learning, is worshipped today and children are initiated into formal learning under her watchful eye. Pre-schoolers are made to write their first letter in a plate of rice.
Writing her first letter.
In the east, especially Bengal, Vijayadashmi marks the end of Durga Puja and the Goddess is returned to her home by immersing her idol in the ocean.
An idol of Durga being immersed in the sea.
May you celebrate many a victory on this Vijayadashmi. Happy Dussehra!!
