Dussehra / Vijayadashami दशहरा / विजयादशमी

Dussehra, also called Vijayadashami, falls on the tenth day after the start of autumn Navaratri and is the festival of victory. Two great stories meet on it. In the Ramayana tradition Rama defeats the ten-headed Ravana, and in the Devi tradition the Goddess finishes her battle against Mahishasura. The name Dussehra is generally explained as from dasha-hara, the removal of ten, a reference to Ravana's ten heads, but folk explanations differ.

The day takes distinct local forms. In north India, Ramlila performances of the Rama story over the preceding days close with the burning of large effigies of Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Meghanada at dusk, with the Delhi and Ramnagar Ramlila traditions among the oldest. The Kullu festival in Himachal gathers local village deities in a procession, while Mysuru's Dasara has royal origins connected to the Vijayanagara rulers and is held in the palace city. In Bengal, Vijayadashami is the day of the farewell to the Goddess with the immersion of the images, and in Maharashtra and Karnataka people exchange leaves of the apta or shami tree as symbolic gold.

The Mahabharata gives the shami tree another meaning: the Pandavas hid their weapons in one during their last year of exile and recovered them on this day. That explains the Shastra Puja, the worship of tools and weapons, and the custom of starting new learning on the day. Farmers, craftspeople and drivers often worship their own implements. Because large fireworks and effigies affect local air quality, many town committees now keep them modest.