Vijaya Daśamī (Dasara)

When it falls

The tenth lunar day (daśamī) of the bright half of Āśvina, the day after the nine nights of Navarātri, in late September or October. Twenty days later is Dīpāvali.

The Phala almanac gives the exact day for your own city; the lunar and solar rules above are what it computes from.

The story

Two victories on one day. Durgā killed the buffalo demon Mahiṣāsura at the end of the nine nights' battle; Rāma killed Rāvaṇa and won Sītā back, after worshipping the Goddess for the same nine nights before the final fight. The north burns Rāvaṇa; the east sends Durgā home; the south lays out its tools and weapons for the Goddess to bless.

Mysore's Dasarā is the day's royal form, four hundred years old: the goddess Cāmuṇḍeśvarī rides through the city in a golden howdah on the back of an elephant (the Jambū Savārī), with the palace lit behind her. Kullu in Himachal begins its week of Dasarā today, when the valley's village gods come down in palanquins to visit Raghunāth.

Nepal keeps it as Dashain, the country's largest festival, ten days ending with the elders' ṭīkā of rice, curd and vermilion on the forehead of every younger member of the family.

How the day is kept

• Rāmlīlā, the play of Rāma's life, runs the nine nights before in the towns of the north and ends tonight with the burning of Rāvaṇa, Kumbhakarṇa and Meghanāda in effigy, packed with fireworks; Delhi's Ramlila Maidan draws the prime minister.
• Āyudha Pūjā in the south: vehicles, machines, tools, instruments and books are washed, marked with sandalwood and vermilion, and garlanded; the day before is Sarasvatī Pūjā and today is Vidyārambha, the beginning of learning, for the youngest children.
• In Bengal the images of Durgā are carried to the river and immersed; the married women first smear one another with vermilion (Sindūr Khelā), and the greeting for the days after is Śubho Bijoyā.
• The śamī tree is worshipped, since the Pāṇḍavas hid their weapons in one for the year of their disguise, and its leaves are exchanged as gold in Maharashtra.
• Anything begun today, a first lesson, a new business, a journey, is held to prosper: the almanac needs no consulting.

More victory and deliverance