.png)
DUSSHERA
Dussehra (Vijaya
Dashami, Dasara, or Dashain) is a Hindu festival that celebrates the victory of
good over evil. It is a gazetted holiday in India, which is marked on the 10th
day of the bright half (Shukla Paksha) of the month of Ashvin (Ashwayuja),
according to the Hindu calendar. It is a major Hindu
festival celebrated at the end of Navratri
every year.
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.
Story behind Dusshera celebration:
Vijayadashami is observed for different reasons and celebrated differently in various parts of the Indian subcontinent.In the southern, eastern and northeastern states of India, Vijayadashami marks the end of Durga Puja, remembering goddess Durga's victory over the buffalo demon Mahishasura to help restore dharma.[3][8] In the northern and western states.In these regions, it marks the end of "Ramlila" and remembers God Rama's victory over the Ravana. On the very same occasion; Arjuna alone defeated entire Kaurava army consisting of 100,000s of soldiers, Bhishma, Drona, Karna, Ashwatthama, Kripa, Duryodhana, Dushyasana, Shakuni etc. - there by significantly quoting a natural example of victory of Good (Dharma) over evil (Adharma). Alternatively it marks a reverence for one of the aspects of goddess Devi such as Durga or Saraswati
Ramayan
Ravana kidnapped Sita. To free her; Rama requested Ravana to release
her but situation became worse & led to the war. After performing severe
penance for ten thousand years he received a boon from the creator-god Brahma:
he could henceforth not be killed by gods, demons, or spirits. Lord Vishnu incarnates
as the human Rama
to defeat and kill him, thus circumventing the boon given by Lord Brahma. A deadly
and fierceful battle takes place between Rama & Ravana in
which finally Rama kills Ravana and ends the evil rule. Finally Dharma was
established on the Earth because of Rama's victory over Ravana. Thus this
festival is celebrated reminding the victories of Good over Evil.
Mahabharat
The Mahabharata is
another series of Hindu stories that play a role in the Dussehra festival. The
Pandavas were five brothers who fought evil forces with a set of distinctive
weapons. They then worshipped the tree before going to a battle, which they
won. This epic is also commemorated during Dussehra.In the Mahabharata, the
Pandavas are known to have spent their thirteenth year of exile in disguise in
the kingdom of Virata. Before going to Virata, Bhima kills Kichaka. Hearing
about the death of Kichaka, A host of Kaurava warriors attacks virata. When he
sees the Kaurava army. Then Arjuna reveals his identity and those of his
brothers'. Arjuna takes Uttar to the tree where the Pandavas hid their weapons.
Arjuna picks up
his Gandiva
after worshipping the tree as Shami tree safeguarded the Pandavas’ weapons for
that complete year. Dispute chats takes place between Karna and arjun.Then Arjuna arrives the battle field.]Eager to
defend the land that had given him refuge. The battle starts between Arjuna
& entire Kuru Army. All the warriors including Bhishma, Drona, Karna, Kripa and Ashwathama
together attacked Arjuna
to kill him but Arjuna
defeated all of them multiple times. . Arjuna alone defeated entire Kuru army
consisting of 100,000s of soldiers, Maharathis: Bhishma, Drona, Karna ;
Atirathis: Kripa,
Ashwatthama.
One of the names of Arjuna is Vijaya- ever victorious. This incident
took place on the same day in which Lord Rama killed Ravana. As it was
Arjuna’s What Do People Do?
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.
- day; the day also became popular as “VIJAYA DASHAMI”.
Northern India
Dasara is
observed with the burning of Ravana effigies and the performance of Ramleela.
In most of northern and western India, Dasha-Hara (literally, "ten days") is celebrated in honour of Rama. Thousands of drama-dance-music plays based on the Ramayana and Ramcharitmanas (Ramlila) are performed at outdoor fairs across the land and in temporarily built staging grounds featuring effigies of the demons Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Meghanada.. In many places, the "Rama Lila", or the brief version of the story of Rama, Sita and Laksham. In many parts of India, the audience and villagers join in and participate spontaneously, some helping the artists, others helping with stage setup, make-up, effigies and lights.These arts come to a close on the night of Dussehra, when the victory of Rama is celebrated by burning the effigies of evil, Ravana and his colleagues. The effigies are burnt on bonfires in the evening of Vijayadashami-Dussehra. While Dussehra is observed on the same day across India, the festivities leading to it vary
.
Southern India
The city of Mysore has traditionally been a major center of Dasara-Vijayadashami celebrations.
Vijayadasami is celebrated in a variety of ways in South India.Celebrations range from worshipping Durga, lighting up temples and major forts such as at Mysore, to displaying colorful figurines, known as a golu.
The festival played a historical role in the 14th-century Vijayanagara Empire, where it was called Mahanavami. The event revered Durga as the warrior goddess (some texts refer to her as Chamundeshwari). The celebrations hosted athletic competitions, singing and dancing, fireworks, a pageantry military parade and charitable giving to the public.
ther significant and notable tradition of several South Indian regions has been the dedication of this festival to Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of knowledge, learning, music and arts. She is worshipped, along with instruments of one's trade during this festival. In South India, people maintain, clean and worship their instruments, tools of work and implements of their livelihood during this festival, remembering Goddess Saraswati and Durga.
In Maharashtra, the deities installed on the first day of Navratri are immersed in water. Observers visit each other and exchange sweets.
Western India
In Gujarat, both goddess Durga and god Rama are revered for their victory over evil. Fasting and prayers at temples are common. A regional dance called Dandiya Raas, that deploys colorfully decorated sticks, and Garba that is dancing in traditional dress is a part of the festivities through the night.
In Mewar region of Rajasthan, both Durga and Rama have been celebrated on Vijayadashami, and it has been a major festival for Rajput warriors.
The Gondi people instead celebrate Ravana by carrying an image of him riding an elephant and singing praises to him, as they consider Ravana as their ancestor and one of their gods.
Durga image is
immersed into river on Vijayadashami in eastern regions of the Indian
subcontinent.
Eastern India
Vijaya Dasami is observed as Bijoya Dashomi, immediately after the day of Dashomi or the tenth day of Nabaratri, marked by a great procession where the clay statues are ceremoniously walked to a river or ocean coast for a solemn goodbye to Durga. Many mark their faces with vermilion (sindoor) or wear some red clothing. It is an emotional day for some devotees, even for many atheist Bengalis as the congregation sings emotional goodbye songs.When the procession reaches the water, Durga is immersed, the clay dissolves, and she is believed to return to Mount Kailasha with Shiva and to the cosmos in general. People distribute sweets and gifts, visit their friends and family members.Some communities such as those near Varanasi mark the eleventh day, called ekadashi, by visiting a Durga temple.
Nepal
Youngsters greet
elders and seek blessings on Dashain (Dashami) among the Hindu community in
Nepal and Himalayan regions.
In Nepal, Vijayadashami follows the festival of Dashain. Youngsters visit the elders in their family, distant ones come to their native homes, and students visit their school teachers. The elders and teachers welcome the youngsters, mark their foreheads with Tilak and bless them. The family reveres the Hindu goddess of wealth Lakshmi, hoping for virtuous success and prosperity in the year ahead.[
8 Most Interesting and Unknown Facts about Dussehra
1). It is said that the first grand celebration of
Dussehra took place at some time in the 17th century at eth behest
of the King of Mysore.
2). The festival is not only celebrated in India but also
in neighboring countries like Bangladesh and Nepal. It is also marked as a
national holiday in Malaysia.
3). Another interesting and unknown fact about Dussehra
is that it marks the change of season, as the hot summer comes to an end,
making way for cool and pleasant winter season. It also marks the time of
harvesting the crops of kharif and the new beginning to plant rabi crop after
Diwali.
4). Dussehra is also known by the name of Vijayadashmi,
which means the victory on the tenth day. It signifies the victory of Goddess
Durga over the demon called Mahishasura, who was killed by the Goddess on the
tenth day of the lunar calendar. Mahishasura was the king of the asuras or
demons who became very powerful and tortured the innocent people. At that time,
Shakti was created by combining the powers of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. A
battle waged between the demon and Shakti and it ended on the tenth day when
the Goddess killed him.
5). Dussehra is celebrated on the conclusion of the Durga
Puja festival, which falls on the tenth day. According to the legend, Goddess
Durga visits her maika during Durga Puja and she goes back to her home on
Dussehra. Her devotees immerse the idol of Goddess Durga in water to bid
farewell to her.
6). The effigy of Ravana is the custom of celebration of
this festival as it stands for killing all the evils of the soul, which are
represented by the ten heads of Ravana. Each of his head stands for an evil,
kama stands for lust, krodha for anger, moha for attachment, lobh for greed,
mada for pride, swarth for selfishness, matsara for jealousy, ahankara for ego,
amanavta for lack of humanity and anyaya for injustice.
7). Dussehra signifies the power of both, Lord Rama and
Goddess Durga as it was the Goddess who told Lord Rama about the secret of
killing the demon king, Ravana.
8). Another belief about Dussehra is that Emperor Ashoka
converted to Buddhism on this day. On the same day, Dr Ambedkar also converted
himself to the Buddhist religion.
Workers busy in making effigies of the evil king Ravana at a workshop ahead of Dussehra festival in Nagpur, Maharashtra. (Photo: PTI)
Following Navaratri, Dussehra (Dasara in some places) sees various effigies of Ravana being burned to commemorate the occasion and Ramlilas, that dramatise parts of the Ramayana, being staged.:
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment