Dussehra
(variant of Dashahara, “ten days”)
Festival celebrated on the tenth dayof
the bright (waxing) half of the lunar
monthof Ashvin(September–October),
and one of the most important celebra-
tions in the year. The festival celebrates
the victory of good over evil, and is also
known as Vijaya Dashami (“Victory
Tenth”). The festival has two charter
myths, both of which mark the ultimate
triumph of good over evil. One charter
comes from the mythology of the
Goddess, and marks this as the day on
which Durga (form of the Hindu Mother
Goddess) slays the buffalo-demon
Mahishasura. This episode comes from
the Devimahatmya, and is the central
theme of the text—the goddess is born
to destroy Mahishasura when the gods
cannot, and the struggle between the
two is the climax of the text. Since the
nine days preceding Dussehra are the
fall Navaratri, the “nine nights” spent in
worshipof the Goddess, it seems rea-
sonable that the tenth and concluding
day would be marked by the climactic
moment in the Devimahatmya, the
most important source of mythology for
the Goddess.
The other charter myth for this festi-
val comes from an entirely different
source, the mythology of Rama(the sev-
enth incarnation of Vishnu). This is cel-
ebrated as the day on which Rama slays
Ravana(demon-king of Lanka) and
regains Sita (wife of Rama) from captivity.
This victory is symbolized by burning
huge effigies of Ravana and his sonDussehra
In Kulu, people celebrating the festival of Dussehra carry temple images in procession through the streets.