Vijayadashami, or Dussehra is a regarded Hindu festival that is enjoyed with great joy in India and Nepal. The festival of Dussehra will be celebrated on Sunday, 13th October 2024. This festival is associated with victory of good over evil; therefore, it represents a victory of a spiritual nature.
Thus, Vijayadashami has a majestic position in Hindu mythology. First, and most obviously, it celebrates the victory of Lord Rama over the ten-headed demon king Ravana in a battle to free his wife Sita. This victory represents light over darkness, virtue over evil, and god over demon. This victory means victory of Rama’s dharma over Ravana’s adharma. On this day, people of many parts of India celebrate the day with the burning of effigies of Ravana, his son Meghnad, and brother Kumbhakarna and other activities like dance and drama known as Ram Lila based on the events of the Ramayana.
Similarly, Vijayadashami is a victory of Lord Rama and Goddess Durga, who won over the buffalo demon Mahishasura. In Hindu mythology we get to learn that goddess Durga fought with Mahishasura for nine days and nine nights. The last day she killed the demon was Vijayadashami, the tenth day of Navaratri. The festival, it therefore, symbolises victory of the divine feminine power or Shakti over the forces of evil.
However, the celebration of Vijayadashami in West Bengal is dissimilar from the rest of India. Like most of the other states of India, they consider the propitious Muhurata (timing) and both Tithi (lunar day) and Nakshatra (constellation), but West Bengal has a different practice. The state festivals are based only on Dasami Tithi, while less importance is given to the Muhurata of the lunar calendar. Therefore, the date of Vijayadashami in West Bengal varies by one day from that of the rest of the country. This regional differentiation is part of the cultural and religious calendar of events that set the signature taste of the state in its programs.
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