In this essay we are going to talk about the Dussehra. Dussehra name is derived from the words of Sanskrit Dasha (“ten”) and hara (“defeat”). Dussehra is the most anticipated festival in India. It is also called Vijayadashami in some parts of India. Although the name might differ, the energy around the festival is always high. It is one of the longest festivals of the Hindu religion. In addition, students from school and colleges get the whole 10 days holiday to celebrate the Navratri. The festival Dussehra is usually celebrated two or three weeks before Diwali. It comes mostly from September to October. According to the Hindu calendar, it falls 20 or 21 days before Diwali.
People here in India are mad about the festival to come so that they can celebrate and enjoy it to their fullest. It is the festival of the Hindu religion but India is the most secular and democratic country where every festival is celebrated as their own. And same with Dussehra also it is celebrated across the whole country irrespective of caste and religion. Nobody can differentiate that it is just a festival of only one community. And one can witness the beauty of the festival Dussehra to its fullest.
Short Essay on Dussehra
Dussehra is celebrated because on this day Lord Rama in a war defeated the evil person Ravan and his brothers. In addition, according to Hindu myth, Dussehra is celebrated for the victory in which Goddess Durga defeated the demon called Mahishasura from the earth and won the battle of good over bad.
He showed on that day that goodness always wins and with pure intentions, you can defeat evil conveniently. It is the biggest example for all of us that no matter what you do good will always lead the way. And the bad or evil will have the last ride or get defeated at the end. A bonfire on a larger scale is done to burn all the bad or evil vibes or energy while celebrating all the goodness and positive energy. Also, it is the symbolization of the victory which Lord Rama won with devil Ravan.
All the family members or friends come together on this day and celebrate by wearing new clothes, playing dandiya and spending some happiest time with each other. Dussehra is celebrated for the whole ten days and on the final day, the fire is born to celebrate the light of good over bad and to fade the negative energy from the air. On the whole ten days of Navratri people rejoice in the festival by playing dandiya with each other. The children, youth plus the old people all come together to dance and celebrate the festival with love and light.
Dussehra is celebrated on the last day of Navratri. The fire is burned to celebrate the victory of good over evil. There is puja held on this day. It is called Durga pooja. The ladies of the house get dressed up with their newest clothes and perform the puja. Children just roam here and there bursting crackers. The whole ten days of Navratri is celebrated across India from place to place and the lights are set up to enhance the feel of the festival. Lights and crackers are burning everywhere with a whole festive feeling setup. Plus people dance together and enjoy the festival.
In addition, some people from some regions or castes do not eat non-vegetarian food for the whole ten days while some of them don’t observe any certain rule in eating habits. Also, in the northern part of India, there is a stage play where people perform on the whole incident of Lord Rama and Ravana. They perform in similar kinds of costumes And try to enact exactly like it looks almost real. People love and enjoy these shows plus the children love it and they understand the whole story conveniently.
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The backstory of the festival Dussehra
The festival of Dussehra is celebrated mainly for the victory which King Lord Rama won with the evil Ravan. Also, it marks the triumph of goodness over bad in any situation or life generally. The battle was for the beautiful Sita. She was the wife of Lord Rama and she was carried away by the devil demon Ravan who was the king of Lanka.
The whole incident is mentioned in the Ramayana. Ravana has a very relevant role to play in the Ramayana. Ravana even had a sister named Shoorpanakha. The sister Shoorpanakha was in love with Lord Rama and his brother Lakshamana. She was also interested in marrying one of them.
After that, the brother of Lord Rama Lakshamana was not ready to marry Shoorpanakha. So she was furious over the rejection. Then she tried to convince Lord Rama to marry her and threatened Sita that she would kill Sita. So that she can marry Lord Rama.
All these incidents made the brother of Lord Rama Lakshamana very angry. And he ventured out his anger by cutting the nose and ears of Ravana’s sister Shoorpanakha. When he cut his ear and nose, Ravana got extremely angry over him. So he kidnapped the lovely Sita to take revenge for the pain that sister Shoorpanakha got after the injury. Then Lord Rama and Lakshamana got to know about the kidnapping of the Sita. So they both decided to fight a battle with Ravana to rescue Sita. Furthermore, Hanuman who is the god of monkeys along with a large number of monkeys came to their rescue to help them in the battle. All these stories are compiled into a tale and it is called Ramayan which consists of even the smallest details of the story.
In addition, there is another backstory of the festival Dussehra. Just like Ramayana, there is another tale of the Hindu religion which has a relevant role in the festival of Dussehra.
It is called Mahabharata. The story includes the five brothers who are known as Pandavas who fought the battle against evil Forces and power. They only had a set of selective weapons to fight in the battle. Plus the five brothers Pandavas abandoned their set of weapons and also went into exile for the whole year. All they did was they tried hiding their set of weapons in a Shami Tree and interestingly after they returned from exile they found the weapons in the same place. After that, they believed that the Shami tree was very lucky for them so they worshipped the Shami tree before going for the battle and eventually they won in the battle. All these stories are compiled into a tale of a series called Mahabharata. And this took place around the same time when the festival of Dussehra is celebrated.
Things which are performed in the Dussehra
On the occasion of Dussehra, people get a 10 days holiday which is the longest holiday period plus it is one of those festivals where people wait to celebrate the festival with joy and happiness with each other. The whole vibe and energy around the festival are highly positive and energetic. People are always eager to celebrate this festival for the whole year. It is one of those festivals which is loved by everyone. One can witness the love and warmth between the people during this time of the festival.
During this period of the festival, some local events are held such as the Ramlila which is the short story of the Ramayana and it is performed with some great artists to entertain the people and remind the history of the epic tale entertainingly. It is mostly performed in the Northern part of India. Also, some ladies in some regions of India follow a dress code for the whole ten days of Navratri and some even don’t bother about the dress code. The colours of dresses are usually red, green, black, purple, yellow, blue, pink, etc.
Also, a large procession plus festival which also includes the goddess Chamundeshwari seated on the throne which is held on the elephants. It is performed in Mysore in a town which is located in Karnataka State.
In addition, the blessing of household and work-related tools, such as books, computers, cooking pans and vehicles in the state of Karnataka. Furthermore, people also prepare some special kind of food on the occasion of Dussehra to celebrate on their way. The food which is prepared luchi which is a flatbread deep fried and also dum potato snacks which are deep-fried and spicy. These food items are specially prepared in the Bengal State.
Also, some of the Hindu religious people like and believe to buy new things on this day or to start any project or business or any new work they are starting as they consider the Dussehra day the lucky one. Some also give each other the gift as a token of love. Plus they also give each the leaves which are from the Shami tree (Prosopis spicigera) as a symbol to celebrate the Pandavas brothers story of exile from the Mahabharata stories.
Dussehra is nothing but a sort of enjoyment from the whole hectic year of our lives and we should celebrate it thoroughly.