23/10/2023
Vijayadashami.
Vijayadashami is observed for different reasons and celebrated differently in various parts of the Indian subcontinent. In the southern, eastern, northeastern, and some northern states of India, Vijayadashami marks the end of Durga Puja, remembering goddess Durga's victory against the buffalo demon Mahishasura to restore and protect dharma. In the northern, central and western states, it marks the end of Ramlila and commemorates god Rama's victory over the demon king Ravana. Alternatively, it marks a reverence for one of the aspects of goddess Devi, such as Durga or Saraswati.
Vijayadashami celebrations include processions to a river or ocean front that involve carrying clay statues of Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha and Kartikeya, accompanied by music and chants, after which the images are immersed in the water for dissolution and farewell. In other places, towering effigies of Ravana, symbolising evil, are burnt with fireworks, marking evil's destruction. The festival also starts the preparations for Diwali, the important festival of lights, which is celebrated twenty days after Vijayadashami.
The celebration of this festival is founded in the epic Ramayana. It is the day Rama defeats the demon king Ravana, after kidnapping Rama's wife, Sita.Ravana kidnaps Sita and takes her to his kingdom in Lanka (present day Sri Lanka). Rama asks Ravana to release her, but Ravana refuses; the situation escalates and leads to war. Prior to this, Ravana performed severe penance for ten thousand years and received a boon from the creator-god Brahma that he could henceforth not be killed by gods, demons, or spirits. However, Rama (a human and incarnate of Lord Vishnu) defeats and kills him,
thus circumventing the boon given by Lord Brahma.A battle takes place between Rama and Ravana in which Rama kills Ravana and ends his evil rule. Finally, dharma was established on the Earth because of Rama's victory over Ravana. The festival commemorates the victory of Good over Evil.
In the Mahabharata, Vijayadashami also marks the day that the Pandava warrior Arjuna defeats the Kauravas.] The epic tells the story of the Pandava brothers who are known to have spent their thirteenth year of exile under concealed identity in Matsya, the kingdom of Virata. Before going to Virata, they are known to have hung their celestial weapons in a Shami tree for safekeeping for a year. It was during this time that Kauravas decided to attack the kingdom in which Arjuna retrieved the weapons from the Shami tree and defeated the entire Kaurava army.
