Dussehra 2017 - Dasara Festival

The date for Dussehra in 2017 is 30th September. It is celebrated on the tenth day in bright half (Shukla Paksha) of Hindu month Ashwin i.e. it is the tenth day of Sharad Navratri. It is known as Dasara or Vijaya Dashami too. Dasara is the final day of Durga Navratri Puja. It is believed that Lord Rama killed the demon king Ravana on this day and rescued mother Sita from Lanka. Therefore, Dasara is celebrated to honor the heroic task performed by Lord Rama. On this day, Goddess Durga is worshiped in the form of ‘Aparajita’, therefore Dussehra is also marked by ‘Aparajita Puja’.

People celebrate the day of Dussehra with different sorts of rituals throughout India. Many people, especially Kshatriya, worship their arms and it is called Ayudha Puja. According to the famous epic Mahabharata, Arjuna hid his weapons in a tree and returned to retrieve his weapons after a year on the day of Dasara. After getting his arms back successfully, he worshiped his weapons and tree. It is believed that the ancient tradition of “Ayudh Puja” began after it. However, people do not only worship weapons, but every tool or thing that is used in their profession, e.g. businessmen worship their account books and students their curricular books on this day.

Mysore Dasara and Kullu Dussehra are famous all across the world for their grandeurs and magnanimousness. In Mysore, the highlight of the 10 day Dussehra celebration is grand parade of decorated elephants and guards mounted on horseback to escort the goddess through the city. In Kullu, goddess deities are carried around on colorful chariots, and there is much dancing and revelry. In north India, Dussehra celebrated in Banaras and Delhi is also quite famous. People arrive at these places to witness the grand celebrations and burning of the effigies of demon trio Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Meghnath. In West Bengal, the festival of Dasara is celebrated as Durga Puja. On the day of Dussehra, clay statues of the Goddess Durga are submerged in rivers. The pooja is performed with turmeric and other pooja items, which are added to the river in order to help the water yield better crops.

The festival of Dussehra is extraordinarily famous in India. On the day of Dussehra, in 2017 too the celebrations will be carried everywhere and the statues of Ravana will be burned by a person who performed the character of Lord Rama in Ramleela.