Why Dussehra is celebrated : Dussehra is a famous Hindu festival which is celebrated with great enthusiasm and joy all over India. The festival of Dussehra is a symbol of good over evil. Like this, we celebrate all festivals with love and happiness, but the festival of Dussehra brings a different kind of happiness.
The children eagerly wait for this festival, but even the elders and old people wander with joy as soon as this festival arrives. There is no other country like our country where all festivals are celebrated with great pomp and show.
There is a mythological and true story behind all the festivals that we celebrate in our country. We celebrate all the festivals by indulging in happiness, but at the same time we also need to know the story behind that festival, why do we celebrate Dussehra .
So in this article today I am going to tell you why and how Dussehra is celebrated ? And along with this I will also tell you when Dussehra 2019 starts?
Why is Dussehra celebrated?
One of the major festivals of India is the festival Dussehra which is also famous by the name of Vijayadashami . Lord Rama killed his egotistical Ravana on this day and rescued his wife Sita from the captivity of Ravana and Goddess Durga conquered Mahishasura in a nine-night and ten-day war. It is celebrated as the victory of truth over untruth.
The word Dussehra derives from the Sanskrit word ‘Das-har’ which means getting rid of ten evils. Those ten evils – anger, greed, fascination, violence, laziness, lies, arrogance, item, theft, bribery etc.
The Rama-Ravana war took place in Navratri and Ravana died on Dashami, for which an effigy of Ravana is burnt on the day of Vijayadashami. On this day Lord Ramchandra had reached Ayodhya after suffering fourteen years of exile and killing Ravana, hence this festival is also called Vijayadashami .
According to another legend related to this festival, the gods were pleased with the worship of Mahishasura and the gods gave him the boon to be Ajay. On receiving that boon, Mahishasura started misusing it and expanded hell to the gate of heaven.
Mahishasura also took away the rights of Surya, Chandra, Indra, Agni, Vayu, Yama, Varuna and other deities and became the master of heaven. Enraged by the audacity of Mahishasura, the gods created Maa Durga.
To destroy Mahishasura, all the gods had dedicated their weapons to Goddess Durga, which made her strong. For nine days, he fought with Mahishasura and finally killed Mahishasura.
Navratri is celebrated before Vijayadashami . During this Navratri, nine forms of Goddess Durga are worshiped. The nine forms are worshiped continuously for nine days. Durga means to remove the sorrow of life. Navratri is celebrated with great enthusiasm throughout India.
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There are nine forms of Maa Durga, to recognize a divine power in this form and every name is to celebrate Navratri. Names of nine forms of mother and their meaning are-
- Shailputri– Shail means peak, mountain top
- Brahmacharini– Brahmacharini means one who is moving in infinite, infinite.
- Chandraghanta– Chandraghanta means shining like a moon.
- Kushmanda– Kushmanda means that the whole world is in their feet and the mother’s beautiful form.
- Skandmata– Skandmata is called the goddess of wisdom.
- Katyayani– It means born in Katyayan ashram and like the daughter of mother Durga.
- Kalratri– It means destroyer of Kaal.
- Mahagauri– It means the beautiful form and purity of Mother Parvati.
- Siddhidatri– It means one who gives all the accomplishments.
It is believed that when Rama was going to war with Ravana, the time of Navratri was going on and Shriram started this Shardiya Navratri Puja on the beach and after that he departed for the victory of Lanka on the tenth day in which he got victory. Has happened
From then on, Dussehra, the festival of the victory of untruth, truth over unrighteousness and religion, began to be celebrated. This is why we celebrate Dussehra .
How is Dussehra celebrated?
Dussehra is a national festival, it is celebrated by millions of people across the country. On this day it is considered auspicious to start a new work and arms worship is also done. On this occasion, big fairs are organized in different places.
There are different customs and traditions of celebrating Dussehra festival in different regions of the country. Somewhere it is celebrated for ten whole days and the temple priests recite mantras and stories from the Ramayana in front of a large crowd of devotees. Sometimes, a big fair of Ram Leela is held for several days or a month.
In many places, devotees keep Navaratri fast for nine days . During Navratri, devotees keep fast for the protection of health and prosperity. Devotees do not use meat, wine, grains, wheat and onions during this fast.
Worshiping the nine forms of Goddess Durga brings happiness, peace, and strength to the devotees. The worship of the Goddess is made in place to worship the Goddess and worship is done with the entire law.
For nine days, Akhand lit a lamp. On Ashtami, fasting is broken by feeding girls with food along with worshiping them as goddesses.
Every year, Ramlila is organized in every corner of the country with reverence and devotion, which depicts the story of war between Lord Shri Ram and the ten-headed Ravana. People come to watch this drama in large numbers with great reverence and enthusiasm.
On the tenth day of Dussehra, Ravana, Kumbhakaran and Meghnath are made to be evil as they are made with huge effigies and are lit with glee. Many firecrackers and bombs are kept in these huge mannequins.
The festival of Dussehra is mostly celebrated all over India because it is a festival in which good things outweigh bad things and people love this festival because it gives them a new power to do everything in life and work hard. And on this festival, people are kind to each other, which is very important in human life.
In India, Bengal , Odisha and Assam , this festival is celebrated as ” Durga Puja “. It is the most important festival for Bengalis. Jagratna and Garba are performed in the worship of Jagatjanani in Gujarat.
Marwari people enjoy Dussehra by dancing Dandiya for nine days. Apart from India, Dussehra is celebrated in different ways in countries like Nepal , Sri Lanka , and Bangladesh .
When is Dussehra in 2019?
In Dussehra, children get a chance to have a lot of fun and go to the fairs, so they always ask the elders on what date is Dussehra in 2019? When did Dussehra start? This year, Dussehra will be celebrated from October 4 to October 8 in 2019 .
Dussehra festival begins on the day of Pratipada of Shukla Paksha of Ashwin month and ends on Dashami which is celebrated all over the country as the festival of Vijayadashami or Dussehra. The Navaratri of Dussehra festival starts only after Mahalaya.
Therefore, you also need to know when is the Mahalaya of Dussehra this year ? This year Mahalaya is on 28 September . It is believed that Mother Durga comes to Prithvi Lok in the evening of Mahalaya from Mount Kailash and stays on the earth for 9 days, showering her blessings on the devotees.
On Pratipada day, people install the idol of the Goddess in their homes. Barley grains are applied on the urn by decorating the urn with cow dung. Goddess worship, kirtan and Durga recitation are done for eight days.
On the day of Navami, nine girls are served food. After Vijayadashami, the idol of the Goddess is immersed with devotional songs.
This festival is considered a symbol of the victory of good over evil. This festival fills life with joy and gaiety, it also gives inspiration to never ego in life. Whether Dussehra is celebrated as the victory of Rama or as Durga Puja, it is a festival of Shakti-puja in both the forms.
A ten-day Dussehra holiday is also declared for children in schools and colleges on Dussehra festival . Private or government offices and offices are also missed on the day of Vijayadashami. The question that comes in the minds of many people who do the job is, do they get salary for the festival holiday?
So the answer is ‘ yes ‘, because you are not taking this holiday on your behalf, but the government itself gives you a holiday in the celebration of the festival of Dashami, so it will not affect your salary. The government deducts some money from your salary only when you take leave of your own free will.
The festival of Dussehra is a symbol of our civilization and culture. Mother Durga and Lord Rama are the symbol of ‘truth’ and Mahishasura, Ravana are the symbol of ‘untruth’. This is such a festival, which celebrates the unique ideals of Rama and the infinite power of Durga in us.
While celebrating this festival, we begin to have knowledge of human tendencies like sin-virtue, good-bad, moral-immoral. The festival of Dussehra tells us that religion always triumphs over unrighteousness. No matter how powerful the evil is, but it cannot be set before the truth and good, the end of sin is sure.
This year celebrate the Dussehra festival with your family with great pomp, but along with it, keep in mind the cleanliness around you. This year, on Dussehra, take a pledge to abandon all kinds of evils within you and adopt good habits. If you liked my article ” Why Dussehra is celebrated and how Dussehra is celebrated “, then share it with your colleagues and family as much as possible.