Dussehra: What, Why, When, How

What it is

Dussehra, also called Vijayadashami, "the tenth day of victory", is the day after the nine nights of Sharad Navratri, on the tenth tithi of the bright half of Ashvin. It celebrates two victories of right over wrong: Rama's victory over Ravana, and the Goddess Durga's victory over the demon Mahishasura.

In North India the weeks of Ramlila, the staged Ramayana, end on this day, and tall figures of Ravana and his brothers are burned at dusk. In Maharashtra, Karnataka and Telangana families worship the Shami tree and give its leaves, or Apta leaves, to friends as "gold". Mysuru holds a great royal procession of the Goddess Chamundeshwari. In Bengal the day is Bijoya Dashami, when the image of Durga is immersed. In Kerala and Tamil Nadu young children write their first letters on this day (Vidyarambham). In Nepal it is the tenth day of Dashain, when elders put a red tika on the foreheads of younger relatives and bless them.

Many families take Dussehra as a good day to begin something: a new study, a craft, a business or a journey.

Why it is kept

Rama and Ravana. Valmiki's Ramayana (Book 6, the Yuddha Kanda) tells the last battle at Lanka. Before it, the sage Agastya teaches the weary Rama a hymn to the rising Sun, the Aditya Hridayam (Griffith's "Glory to the Sun", Canto 106). Then Rama fires the arrow that Agastya had given him, Ravana falls, flowers rain from the sky, and voices call out, in Griffith's translation, “Champion of Gods, well done, well done” (Canto 110). Sita is freed and Rama sets out for home. The epic does not name the tithi of the battle; the custom of celebrating it on this tenth day is the living tradition of North India, carried by the Ramlila.

Rama and the Goddess. The Devi Bhagavata Purana (book 3, chapter 30) links the two victories. It tells that Rama kept the nine-night vow of the Goddess at Kishkindha, as the sage Narada taught him, worshipped her on the tenth day, and then marched to the sea to build the bridge to Lanka. Bengali families tell a related story of Rama waking Durga out of season before the battle (see the Navratri guide).

Durga and Mahishasura. In the Devi Mahatmyam the Goddess fights the buffalo demon Mahishasura and ends his rule. Many families, and above all in Mysuru, whose name families link with Mahishasura, celebrate her victory on this day as Chamundeshwari.

The Shami tree. The Mahabharata tells that the five Pandavas, before their last year in hiding, tied their weapons in a Shami tree near a cremation ground (Virata Parva, section 5 in K. M. Ganguli's translation). When the year ended, Arjuna came back to the same tree and asked the young prince Uttara to climb it and bring the weapons down, and he took up his bow Gandiva again (sections 40 and 41). Tradition places that day on Vijayadashami, and families worship the Shami tree in its memory.

Leaves of gold (Maharashtra tradition). Kalidasa's Raghuvamsha (canto 5) tells how the young scholar Kautsa asked King Raghu for a great sum of gold to pay his teacher, and how gold rained from the sky to fill Raghu's treasury. Marathi families tell that the gold fell on a Shami or Apta tree, and on Dussehra they give Apta leaves to elders and friends as "sona", gold.

The texts behind the story

• Valmiki, Ramayana, Book 6 (Yuddha Kanda): Canto 106 "Glory to the Sun" (the Aditya Hridayam) and Canto 110 "Rávan's Death". R. T. H. Griffith (tr.), The Rámáyan of Válmíki (London: Trübner, 1870–74), Project Gutenberg transcription. Griffith died 1906: public domain. Quoted verbatim. (Book VI, Cantos CVI and CX)
• Devi Bhagavata Purana, book 3, chapter 30. Swami Vijnanananda (tr.), The Srimad Devi Bhagawatam (Allahabad: Panini Office, 1921–23). Public domain. Summarised in our own words. Read in the archive.org full-text transcription of this translation; the 1922 scan srimaddevibhagav26vijnuoft holds only books 9–12. (book 3, chapter 30, verses 43–61)
• Mahabharata, Virata Parva, sections 5, 40 and 41 (the weapons in the Shami tree). K. M. Ganguli (tr.), The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (Calcutta: P. C. Roy, 1883–96), Project Gutenberg volume 2. Public domain in the US; its status in India is not yet confirmed (the translator's death year is unverified), so it is summarised, not quoted. (Virata Parva, sections V, XL and XLI)
• Devi Mahatmyam (Markandeya Purana, cantos 82–84 in Pargiter's numbering): the defeat of Mahishasura. F. E. Pargiter (tr.), The Markandeya Purana (Calcutta, 1904). Public domain.
• Kalidasa, Raghuvamsha, canto 5 (Kautsa and Raghu); the Shami and Apta link is Marathi tradition. Summarised in our own words.

When it is kept

Vijayadashami is the Shukla Dashami of Ashvin that is present during aparahna, the fourth of the five equal parts of the daytime at your location. The texts on festival rules set the Aparajita worship, the Shami worship and the ceremonial crossing of the boundary (simollanghan) in this afternoon window, which is why the day is decided by it. When Dashami holds aparahna on both days, the first day is taken; when it holds it on neither, the day whose sunrise has Dashami is taken. This is the rule most Smarta panchangs use.

The date, from the calendar engine

• Dussehra 2027: Puja falls on Saturday, October 9, 2027 in Washington DC (computed for this city). The date is the same in New Delhi.

The date depends on your city. Every city we cover is on the year page.

Traditions and regional customs

• Smarta: Ashvin Shukla Dashami in aparahna
• North Indian: Ramlila ends; Ravana effigies burned at dusk
• Marathi, Kannada and Telugu: Shami puja and the gift of Shami or Apta leaves
• Bengali: Bijoya Dashami by the sunrise rule of the Durga Puja days (engine id durga-puja)
• Malayali and Tamil: Vidyarambham, a child's first letters
• Mysuru: Dasara procession of Chamundeshwari

Why the day can differ

Because aparahna is part of your own day, Dussehra can fall on different dates in different cities, and sometimes on a different date from India. Some panchangs also look at the Shravana nakshatra in the afternoon when Dashami covers it on both days; the app does not use that extra test, so in rare years a temple may keep the other day.

Bengali families date Bijoya Dashami by the tithi at sunrise, as part of the Durga Puja days, so it can differ by a day from the Dussehra date shown here. Where Navratri gains or loses a day, Dussehra still follows the Dashami. Abroad, Ramlila performances and Ravana burnings are often held on the nearest weekend, and open fires need local permission.

How to keep it at home

1. Morning: bathe and offer the shoots of barley or wheat grown during Navratri. Families who kept the Navratri fast often end it today after the morning puja, if they did not end it on Navami.
2. Worship of tools and books: many families clean their tools, instruments, books, and even cars and computers, mark them with kumkum and turmeric, and offer flowers, giving thanks for the work they make possible. In South India this Ayudha Puja is often done on Navami, the day before.
3. In the afternoon, many families worship the Goddess as Aparajita, "the unconquered", on an eight-petalled lotus drawn with rice or kumkum, and then worship a Shami tree, or a Shami branch or potted plant at home, with water, kumkum, rice and a lamp.
4. Give Shami or Apta leaves to elders and friends as "gold", touch the feet of elders, and visit or call family. In the old custom, families walked out past the village boundary in the afternoon (simollanghan); today many take a short walk to the temple instead.
5. Read or listen to the end of the Ramayana: the Lanka Kand of Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas or the Yuddha Kanda of Valmiki. Prayers often said today are the Aditya Hridayam (from the Yuddha Kanda), the Ram Raksha Stotra and Tulsidas's hymn "Shri Ramachandra kripalu bhaju mana".
6. In the evening, many families go to the community Ramlila and Ravana burning. In Kerala and Tamil homes, a young child sits on an elder's lap or with a teacher and writes first letters in a plate of rice (Vidyarambham). Bengali families exchange Bijoya greetings after the immersion.

Fasting

Dussehra itself is not a fast day. For families who kept the Navratri fast, the fast is broken on Navami or on this morning, by family custom; the meal after the puja is the first full meal.

Food

Gujarati families eat fafda and jalebi on Dussehra morning, and jalebi is a favourite across North India. Marathi homes make puran poli or shrikhand. Mysuru is known for Mysore pak, and Bengali Bijoya brings narkel naru, nimki and ghugni to share with visitors.

For children

Ravana, the ten-headed king of Lanka, took Princess Sita away. Prince Rama, his brother Lakshmana, brave Hanuman and an army of vanaras built a bridge of stones across the sea. After a long struggle Rama won, and Sita was free. On Dussehra families remember that courage and doing what is right can win, even against a very big problem.

Something to do together

Draw a big paper Ravana with ten heads. On each head, write one habit you would like to leave behind, such as "shouting" or "not sharing". Then fold the paper away together and choose one good habit to start today.

Sources

• Panchang engine rules vijayadashami and durga-puja (packages/panchang/data/festivals.json), with the sources each rule lists, including the note on Shravana nakshatra in aparahna.
• R. T. H. Griffith (tr.), The Rámáyan of Válmíki (1870–74), Book 6. Public domain.
• UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, "Ramlila, the traditional performance of the Ramayana": the North Indian staged Ramayana that ends with the burning of Ravana's effigy.
• Wikipedia, "Vijayadashami" (background on Ramlila, Ravana's effigies and the dolls set out in the south) and "Ayudha Puja" (the worship of tools on the ninth day).
• Nirnayasindhu (Kamalakara Bhatta, 1612) and Dharmasindhu (Kashinatha Upadhyaya, 1790), the texts on festival rules that set the Aparajita and Shami worship and simollanghan in the afternoon of Vijayadashami.

Related guides

• Sharad Navratri and Durga Puja
• Durga Puja
• Sharad Purnima (Kojagari Purnima)