Kundli.me · Festivals
The victory of good over evil.
When is it?
Saturday
343 days to go
The date follows the tithi in the panchang; when a tithi shortens or lengthens, some places keep the festival a day earlier or later.
Why it is celebrated
Dussehra, or Vijayadashami, is the tenth day of the bright fortnight of Ashwin, and it carries two stories that most of India tells at once.
The story and belief
The two stories are not in competition.
The story and belief · continued
In the Ramayana itself Rama worships the Goddess for nine nights before the final battle — an invocation out of season that gives autumn Navratri the name Akaal Bodhan — so the nine nights of Shakti and the tenth day of Rama are one sequence, not two.
The story and belief · continued
What both say is the same thing: the fight is long, the outcome is settled on the tenth, and the tenth is therefore the day you act.
Main rituals
The Dussehra puja done at home is short and is traditionally performed in the aparahna — the later part of the afternoon, which is the portion of the day the tithi assigns to this festival, because the tenth is said to have been won then.
Across India
Customs differ from home to home and region to region; these are the main forms, not a rule everywhere.
Often asked
What are the three and a half abujh muhurats?
Chaitra Shukla Pratipada (Gudi Padwa / Ugadi), Akshaya Tritiya, and Vijayadashami are the three full ones; the half is Kartik Shukla Pratipada — Balipratipada, the Diwali Padwa.
Often asked · answer continued
It is called a half because the status applies to part of the day rather than the whole, and because regional lists differ over it; some traditions name Devuthani Ekadashi instead. On these days no muhurat calculation is considered necessary at all.
Dussehra (Vijayadashami)
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