Dussehra is celebrated with great fanfare in India. It is the culmination of
Navaratri, observed for nine days. The tenth day of the festival is known as
Dussehra or Vijayadashmi. Ramlila is the main event conducted during the day, in
northern parts of the country. In the eastern state of West Bengal, Vijayadashmi
is observed as the day of 'visarjan' (submersion) of the idols of Goddess Durga,
after the celebrations of Durga Puja in the preceding nine days. A number of
legends are connected to Dusshera, which commemorates the triumph of good over
the evil. Go through the following lines to know about the legends of Dussehra.
Legends Of Dusshera
Dussehra is mainly associated with the story of Rama based on Ramayana, one of
the two great Indian epics. Set around 1000 BCE in India, this epic attempts to
establish the social ideals and explains the depth of human relationships. Lord
Rama was the protagonist of the epic, while his wife Sita was its female lead.
He has been idolized as the ideal son, husband and king, while she is the
epitome of womanhood. Lord Rama was the eldest son of Dashratha, the king of
Ayodhya and was beloved of all, because of his genial ways. The king decided to
hand over his throne to him and retire.
Contrary to her husband's decision, Lord Rama's stepmother (Kaikayi) wanted her
own son Bharata to be the king and forced Dashratha to banish Rama from Ayodhya,
the kingdom and give him fourteen years of exile. Rama gladly accepted the
stepmother's wishes and left the palace and the kingdom with his wife Sita, and
brother Lakshmana. The grief-stricken father soon died. When Bharata, who was on
a visit to his maternal grandfather, came back and came to know what his mother
had done, he immediately set out to being his brother back from the forest.
Rama was glad to welcome his brother Bharata, but he refused to go back to the
kingdom before the completion of his exile. Rama had another loss at hand, as
the demon-king Ravana, abducted his wife Sita and took her away to his kingdom.
This became the reason behind the long search and the various events that
followed, which led to the destruction of Ravana by the hands of Lord Rama, with
the help of the monkey army he had befriended on his way to Lanka. Dussehra is
the day, when Rama killed Ravana and won back his wife. Hence, Dusshera is also
called Vijayadashmi.
Dussehra celebrates the victory of good (Rama) over the evil (Ravana). This is
the reason why effigies of Ravana, Meghnatha and Kumbhkarna are burnt on
Dusshera, all over northern India. Apart from this, Vijayadashmi also symbolizes
the victory of Goddess Durga over Mahishasura, the demon who held the earth and
the swarglok (heaven) with his tyranny and invincible power. Hence, it can be
said that two legends are connected to the celebration of Dussehra in India.
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