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