DURGA PUJA, DUSSEHRA AND VIJAYADASHMI

Oct. 19, 2018

(Source: PIB; Syllabus: Culture)

About:

  • Vijayadashami is a major Hindu festival celebrated at the end of Navratri every year i.e. on the tenth day in the Hindu calendar month of Ashvin.

  • The festival also starts the preparation for Diwali, which is celebrated twenty days after the Vijayadashami.

  • It is observed for different reasons and celebrated differently in various parts of the Indian subcontinent.

REGION

REASON FOR OBSERVANCE

CELEBRATIONS

EASTERN & NORTH-EASTERN INDIA

It marks the end of Durga Puja.

 

It remembers goddess Durga's victory over the buffalo demon Mahishasura.

·         It includes processions to a river or ocean front that carry clay statues of Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha and Kartikeya, accompanied by music and chants.

·         After this the statutes are immersed into the water.

NORTHERN, SOUTHERN & WESTERN INDIA

It marks the end of "Ramlila"

 

It remembers God Rama's victory over the demon Ravana.

·         Here the festival is also known as Dasara or Dussehra.

·         The towering effigies of Ravana symbolizing the evil are burnt with fireworks marking evil's destruction.

·         The performance arts tradition during the Dussehra festival was inscribed by UNESCO as one of the "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity" in 2008.

Source : PIB

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