Dussehra (Vijayadashami)

Overview

Dussehra, or Vijayadashami, is the tenth day of Ashwin’s bright fortnight — the day after the nine nights of Navratri. Two victories are kept on it: Rama’s over Ravana, told in the Ramayana and acted out in the Ramlila that ends with the burning of Ravana’s effigy, and Durga’s over Mahishasura, which the east and south mark as the end of Durga Puja and the immersion of her image. In Mysuru it is the climax of the royal Dasara; in Kullu the festival begins on this day rather than ending on it.

The stories

Rama and Ravana. The Valmiki Ramayana’s Yuddha Kanda tells the battle at Lanka and Ravana’s death; the Ramcharitmanas’ Lanka Kanda is the version the Ramlila performs. North Indian tradition places the killing on Ashwin Shukla Dashami and holds that Rama worshipped Durga through the nine days before it — the Akal Bodhan, “untimely awakening” of the Goddess, which Bengal takes as the origin of autumn Durga Puja.

Durga and Mahishasura. The Devi Mahatmya’s second episode: nine days of battle and the buffalo demon’s death on the tenth. In Bengal, Odisha and Assam this is the story of the day, and the image of Durga, worshipped for four days, is carried to the river.

The shami tree. The Mahabharata’s Virata Parva has the Pandavas hide their weapons in a shami tree for their year in disguise and take them back on this day. From this comes the southern and Maharashtrian Shami Puja and the exchange of shami leaves, and the older royal custom of Seemollanghan — a king’s ceremonial crossing of his border, the day on which campaigns were begun.

How the day is kept

Ramlila and Ravana Dahan. In the north, the Ramlila — a staged Ramayana running through Navratri — ends on this evening with effigies of Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Meghnad, packed with fireworks, set alight by an actor playing Rama. Delhi’s Ramlila grounds and Varanasi’s Ramnagar Ramlila are the best known.

Ayudha Puja. In the south and in Maharashtra, tools of one’s trade — books, instruments, vehicles, machinery — are cleaned, decorated and worshipped on Navami or Dashami; Vidyarambham, a child’s first lesson in writing, is done on Vijayadashami in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Aparajita Puja. A puja to Durga as Aparajita, “the undefeated,” done in the afternoon of Dashami facing north-east; the Dashami tithi should be current in aparahna, the fourth fifth of the day, which is the rule this site uses for the date.

Jaap. Rama’s name in the north — Shri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram is the day’s mantra in many homes, with the Ram Chalisa; Durga’s mantra in the east. Both are linked below.

Regional forms

• Mysuru: ten days of Dasara at the palace, ending in the Jamboo Savari, the procession of the goddess Chamundeshwari on an elephant.
• Kullu: the Dussehra begins on Vijayadashami and runs a week, with the valley’s village deities carried to the Dhalpur ground to attend Raghunath.
• Bengal, Odisha, Assam: Bijoya Dashami — Sindoor Khela, the immersion, and the greeting of elders.
• Gujarat: the last night of garba; fafda and jalebi on the morning of Dussehra.
• Nepal: Dashain, the country’s largest festival, with the tika from elders on Dashami.

The date

Dashami prevailing in aparahna, in one’s own city. The Bengali Bijoya Dashami uses the sunrise tithi instead, so in some years the two fall a day apart; the table gives both rules where they differ.

Mantra, aarti and chalisa for Dussehra (Vijayadashami)

Mantra Shri Ram Jai Ram श्री राम जय राम Chalisa Ram Chalisa राम चालीसा