Dussehra Festival |
Dussehra means the
Tenth Day, being the 10th day of the bright half of
Ashvin. This day is also known as Vijayadashmi, or Victory
Tenth, because of the Victory of Rama over Ravana. In
North India it is Ram Lila and consists of plays, recitations
and music that recall the life of the legendary hero,
Ram. In Delhi, many amateur troupes perform plays based
on this epic story. On the tenth day, an elaborate procession
leads to the Ram Lila grounds where immense cracker-stuffed
effigies of the demon Ravana and his brother and son
explode to the cheers of thousands of spectators. In
Kulu, the celebrations have a different flavor. |
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In Mysore, it is celeberated with a pomp and pageantry
reminiscent of medieval times. In Bengal and other parts
of eastern India, Dussehra is celebrated as Durga Puja.
Devotees wear new clothes and entertain with music, dance
and drama. On the last day, images of the warrior goddess
are taken out in procession immersed in a river or the
sea. In the south, the festival is celebrated as Navaratri.
Dolls and trinkets are artistically arranged in tiers
by young girls. Friends and relatives visit each other's
homes to exchange greetings.
Ram's Victory over Ravan
On this day in the Treta Yug , Ram (7th incarnation of
Vishnu), killed the great demon Ravan who had abducted
Ram's wife Sita to his kingdom of Lanka. Ram, along, with
his brother Lakshman follower Hanuman, and an army of
monkeys fought a great battle to rescue his lovely wife
Sita. The war against Ravan lasted for ten days and the
story of is recounted with affection and love in the great
epic Ramayana.
Kautsa's Gurudakshina
Kautsa, the young son of Devdatt, a Brahmin, was living
in the city of Paithan. After learning under the guidance
of the rishi Varatantu, he insisted on his guru accepting
a present, or "gurudakshina". But the guru said, "Kautsa,
to give 'dakshina' in return for the gift of wisdom is
not proper. The disciple has become learned, this makes
the guru happy, and this is the real gurudakshina."
Kautsa was not satisfied. He still felt it was his duty
to give his guru something. Finally the guru said, "Alright,
you insist on giving me dakshina, so give me 14 crore
gold coins, one crore for each of the 14 sciences I have
taught you."
Kautsa went to king Raghu. Raghuraja was an ancestor of
Rama, famous for his generosity. But just at that time
he had emptied all his coffers on the Brahmins, after
performing the Vishvajit sacrifice. He asked Kautsa to
give him three days' time. He immediately left to get
the gold coins from Indra. Indra summoned Kuber, the god
of wealth. Indra told Kuber, "Make a rain of gold coins
fall on the "shanu" and "apati" trees round Raghuraja's
city of Ayodhya."
The rain of coins began to fall. King Raghu gave all the
coins to Kautsa, and Kautsa hastened to offer the coins
to Varatantu Rishi. But the guru had asked only 14 crores,
so he gave the rest to Kautsa. But Kautsa was not interested
in money. In those days honour was considered more valuable
than wealth. He asked the king to take the remaining coins
back. But the king would not. Finally Kautsa lavishly
distributed the coins to the people of Ayodhya city. This
happened on the day of Dussehra. In remembrance of this
event the custom is kept of looting the leaves of the
"apati" trees, and people present each other these leaves
as "sone" (gold).
War and Peace
In ancient times kings used the feast of Dussehra to cross
the frontier and fight against their neighbouring kingdoms.
This border crossing is known as "simollanghan". Dussehra
marked the beginning of the war season.
This was also the day to worship the weapons. According
to legend, Pandav went to dwell in the forest. On the
way he hid his weapons in the hole of a "shami" tree.
After one year he returned from the forest and on Dussehra
day he took again his weapons and worshipped the shami
tree and the weapons. Hence the custom of worshipping
weapons on this feast. |
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