Ramlila ground in Delhi is decked up for the evening show when the effigy of raven would be burnt to declare victory of good over evil

Ramlila ground in Delhi is decked up for the evening show when the effigy of raven would be burnt to declare victory of good over evil. Many heavyweights including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi are expected to participate in the function.

Interesting colours of festival are pouring in from various parts of the country. At many places Anna Hazare is being evoked to burn effigy of raven symbolizing corruption. In West Bengal sindur mela is attracting people in large number.

Thousands of children in Kerala entered the world of learning by scribbling their first letters on Vijayadasami day on Thursday, marking the culmination of the Navaratri festival.


Transcending religious barriers, Christian and Muslim children also underwent the ritual in many parts of the state. The auspicious occasion has for centuries been observed by Keralites as “Vidyarambham", the beginning of learning.


One derivation of the word Dasera is from dashhara. 'Dash' means ten and 'hara' means defeated. Nine days before Dasera, in the nine days of Navaratri, all the ten directions are saturated with the female deity's (devi's-Shakti) energy. 'Shakti' has control over creation in all the ten directions (dikbhav), attendants (gan), etc. That is why this day is known as Dashhara, Dasera, Vijayadashami, etc.


This is one amongst the three and a half auspicious moments (muhurts) of the year. This falls on the tenth day (dashami) of the bright fortnight of Ashvin. The immersion of the Navratri (female deity) is done on the ninth day (navami) or the tenth day.


Four rituals namely crossing the territory (Simollanghan), worship of the Shami tree (Shamipujan), worship of the deity Aparajita (Aparajitapujan) and worship of instruments (Shastrapuja) are performed on this day.


In crossing the territory ritual the territory of a village is crossed in the north-east direction in the afternoon. And one should stop at a Shami or Apta tree. In the second ritual of worship of the Shami tree , this is worshipped with the recitation of a mantra.


Third ritual involves worship of the deity Aparajita. During the worship of the Shami tree, eight petals (Ashtadal) are drawn on the ground and an idol of the deity Aparajita is placed on it and worshipped

On this day soldiers and the feudal princes clean their weapons, arrange them in a row and worship them. Farmers and artisans too worship their respective implements or instruments.

Since Dasera is a festival of triumph, on this day special rituals have been recommended for nobles and kings. This is a festival signifying victory and valour. Before Arjun went into hiding (adnyatvas), he placed all his weapons in the hollow of the Shami tree.

But on this day when the Kourav army was herding away King Virat's cattle, Arjun pulled out his weapons from the Shami tree and confronted the army and defeated them.

It is believed that Lord Ramachandra too slayed Ravana and emerged victorious on this day. To signify these events, this day has been named Vijayadashmi. Actually this festival was celebrated even in ancient times.