Dasara

Dasara:

Dasara is a Hindu festival celebrated for ten days in the month of September or October. Dasara is also known as Vijaya Dashami i.e. success of Good over Bad. Dasara is also called as Navaratri, the first nine days mother Durga is worshipped in different forms. On the 10^th day they honor Durga.

Cultural Beliefs: 

As per the Hindus tradition, People believe that three forms of Goddess Durga namely Mahasaraswati, Mahalakshmi and Mahakali are the Shakti energies of (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva).

There are many stories for Dasara festival in the Hindu mythology.

1) Lord Rama king of Ayodhya has killed Ravana who took illegally sita to his lanka kingdom. Lord Rama has performed “Chandi Home” and invoked Goddess Durga blessings on Ashvin Shukla Dashami. Rama defeated Ravana. People perform “Aditya homa” & “shanti yagna” to create powers in the atmosphere around the house that will keep the house clean and healthy. The purpose of the yagna is to get rid of ten bad qualities namely Lust(Kama), Anger(Krodha), Delusion(Moha),Greed (Lobha), Pride(Mada), Jealousy (Matsara), Mind (Manas), Intellect(Buddhi),Will(Chitta) & Ego(Ahankara). 

Sundara kanda is recited for nine days. Some perform the Aahavaneeya Agni, Grahapatya Agni or Dakshina Agni yagnas for three times a day. Also the aditya homas with surya mantras are recited. They believe that these mantras keep the heart, brain and the digestive functions in balance in the months of winter when there is inadequate sunlight.

2) Demons (Asuras) tried to defeat gods and capture heaven. One of the demons named Mahishasura was very powerful. He created destruction on earth. All the gods decided to join their energies into a single energy and gave form to Shakti. A powerful female virgin with ten hands is emerged as shakti. All the gods gave their weapons to Shakti which is in the form Goddess Durga. Durga with ten weapons in ten hands riding on lion has battled for nine days and nights and finally on the tenth day of Ashwin shukla paksha, she defeated the Demon Mahishasur.

3) Pandavas lost in the dice game with kaurvas and had to proceed to vanas (forests) for twelve years and one year of agnyatwasa(hiding from enemies) .pandavas were in the forest for 12 years hiding their weapons in a hole of Shami tree before entering the kingdom. After the completion of agnyatwasa year on the vijayadashami day they defeated kauravas.From that day the shami tress and weapons are worshipped as a symbol of victory.

Interesting Facts:

We have nine planets Sun, Moon , Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, North Node and South Node

The Human body have nine openings  2 for seeing - Eyes(Chakshu), 2 for hearing - Ears(Karna), 2 for breathing - Nostrils(Nasika), 1 for speech & eating – Mouth(Noaru), 1 for Malotsarjan - Anus &  1 for Mutrotsarjan – urinary opening.

Navaratri means nine nights. We have to seek blessings from the nine planets to control our nine openings. In the festival time all the planets has to be worshipped      and the openings should be cleaned with heart the mind and soul. If all planets favors and the openings of the human body are under control, the human life is a great success.

The first nine days are for cleansing the impurities in order to experience the divinity. On the last day we have to worship the weapons commonly known as “Ayudha puja”. The Divine is worshipped like this so that one can progress spiritually.

Nine Days of Dasara:

The following are the nine forms of Goddess Durga for the ten days of the festival:

Day 1 - Sailaputri : Durga is of two arms and carries a  three-pronged spear and lotus and sits on a bull. She is the rebirth of sati who is the Daughter of the Daksha and wife of lord Shiva. She was born as parvathi in her second birth.

Day 2 - Brahmacharini : Durga is of  two arms and a rosary and a water pot in her hand. She is very peaceful in the meditation form.

Day 3 - Chandraghanta : Durga is of ten arms and rides a tiger. She carries bow, pot, lotus, rosary and sword. She is Beautiful like the Moon.

Day 4 - Kusmanda : Durga is of eight arms and rides a tiger. She holds a pot, arrow, lotus,disc and rosary. This form brings happiness also it is believed that darkness ends when she smiles.

Day 5 - Skandamata : Durga is of four arms and rides on lion. She holds lotus, pot and bell. She will be blessing with one hand. She is the mother of Skanda(Lord karthikeya), who is the leader for army against evil.

Day 6 - Katyayani : Durga is of four arms and rides a lion. She holds a sword, shield and lots. She is born to the age Katya. She is another aspect of Mother Kali. She gives love and never hesitates to rise up when in anger.

Day 7 - Kalaratri : Durga is of four arms and carries a sword, a weapon and noose. She rides a donkey. She is cruel and violent. This tells us life has dark side also.

Day 8 - Mahagauri : Durga is of  four arms and carries a weapon and hand drum. She rides a bull. She is the Great White Goddess. Her two hands will be in blessing posture. She is pure.

Day 9 - Siddhidatri : Durga will be sitting on a lotus holding lotus, book, mace and disc. She is surrounded by gandhravas, demons, gods and yakshas. She is of great spiritual Powers and knowledge.

In the south, Special Alankarams of Goddess Durga are done at , Goddess Kanaka Durga temple(Vijayawada). The Alankarams may change every year according to tidis and Nakshatrams. The Alankarams of Durga Devi are

Swarna Kavachalakruta,Bala Tripura Sundari, Annapurna, Gayatri, Lalitha Tripura Sundari,Saraswathi,Maha Lakshmi, Dura Devi, Mahishasura Mardhini and Raja Rajeswari.

Colors for Dasara:

There is tradition of colors. Nine colors represent the nine avatars of Goddess Durga. The colors are Green, orange, yellow, blue, pink, grey and royal blue. On the tenth day Red color is used.

Significance:

Dasara is mainly selected for starting new ventures like business, construction activities for new buildings House warming, buying new vehicle, buying gold etc. Many parents start their children learning activity. Farmers start new crops and start work in the fields, machines are worshipped, traders worship their account books, intellectuals worship Pens & Computers and children their school books. Buses, trucks and huge machineries in factories are all decorated and worshipped.

Scientific Reasons:

Dasara falls in between two natural seasons i.e. between winter and the summer time. When season changes the planets and atmosphere are helpful for the progress of chemical compositions in humans. This is the season where people suffer from many viral and bacterial diseases like small pox and viral fever. Also there is more moisture for germs to grow and spread. Precautions have to be taken care to stop them from spreading. So people perform yagnas during the navaratri time which purifies the air by killing all the bacteria, germs and viruses. It maintains the level of life by giving air (Praana Vayu)

Fasting is a good method in the festival time so that it keeps regulating the body. Diet balance and giving it sometime so that the body can recover itself from the seasons change. We should consume milk fruits, nuts, etc. which helps in building our body because they are more nutritious than the regular food we are consuming. Self-purification can be obtained fasting and to overcome our senses. 

Read More about Navaratri