In India, most of the festivals give you a message of the victory of good over evil in one way or the other, but the most important festival that marks this victory is Dussehra.It is celebrated exactly 20 days before Diwali. According to the Hindu calendar, Dussehra or Vijaya Dashmi is celebrated across the country on the 10th day of the bright fortnight of the month of Ashwin.
Dussehra is one of the major Hindu festivals. It is celebrated because Shri Ram killed the demon king Ravana after a 9 day battle with him and freed his wife, Goddess Sita, from Ravana’s captivity. On this very day, Goddess Durga, killed the demon Mahishasur, and so, this day is also celebrated as VijayDashmi.People pray and seek blessings from Goddess Durga too, on this day. It is believed that God Shri Ram had also prayed to the Goddess Durga for strength and before granting Him his wish, the Goddess wanted to test his reverence towards her. For that she removed one lotus out of the 108 lotuses He was praying with. When Shri Ram reached the end of His prayers and realized that one lotus was missing, He started to cut off His own eye(since His eyes represent lotus and another name for Him is _Kamalnayan)to offer to the Goddess in order to complete His prayer .The Goddess was pleased with His devotion and granted Him victory over Ravana.
It is believed that only aft er this prayer to the Goddess ,was Shri Ram able to kill the demon king Ravana on the 10th day and so this victory is celebrated all over India in the form of a festival. It symbolizes the triumph of good (Ram and Durga) over evil (Ravana and Mahishasur).
Different parts of the country celebrate this festival in different ways. While Dussehra of kullu is very famous, Dussehra of states like West Bengal and Tripura is very popular too.
Dussehra 2019
8th October
Vijay Muhurat - 14:04 to 14:50
Aparahna Puja Time - 13:17 to 15:36
Dashami Tithi Begins - 12:37 (7th October)
Dashami Tithi Ends- 14:50 (8th October)