Dussehra / Vijayadashami
The tenth tithi of bright Ashwin — Rama's victory over Ravana, Durga's over Mahishasura, and a whole-day muhurta.
Where it is kept All India: Ramlila and the Ravana effigies in the north, Durga immersion in the east, Dasara procession at Mysore, Shami puja and Simollanghan in Maharashtra.
When it falls
Computed from the Moon's elongation from the Sun. The civil day is the one carrying the tithi running in the aparahna, the afternoon division.
Overview
Two victories on one tithi, and both readings are ancient. In the north the day closes the Ramlila and ends with the burning of effigies of Ravana, Meghnad and Kumbhakarna. In the east it is Bijoya Dashami, when the Durga image is immersed, married women play sindoor khela, and the Goddess is sent home. In Karnataka the Mysore procession brings the Chamundeshwari howdah down the city.
The observance is timed to aparahna, the afternoon division, which is the rule used here — Vijaya muhurta falls in the tenth muhurta of the day, and the departures, the crossings and the effigy burnings are set to it.
Where it comes from
The Ramayana account has Rama killing Ravana and returning to Ayodhya twenty days later, which is why Diwali follows this festival by twenty days. The Devi Mahatmya has Durga killing Mahishasura at the end of the nine nights. The two narratives are independent and the tithi carries both.
In Maharashtra the day is Simollanghan, the crossing of the border: armies traditionally marched out at the end of the monsoon on this day, and the exchange of apta leaves as symbolic gold descends from that. The Mysore Dasara procession has been held by the Wodeyars since the sixteenth century, continuing a Vijayanagara practice.
Why it matters
It is one of the saade teen muhurta — an entire day auspicious without further computation. A new venture, a purchase, a journey or an enrolment needs no separate election.
Vidyarambham falls here in Kerala and the south: a child's first letters are written on this day, traced in rice or sand. The tools set down on Navami are taken up again today.
How to celebrate
- Take up the tools and books put down on NavamiThe resumption is the day's act.
- Begin what needed a muhurtaThe whole day is auspicious; no further check is required.
- Exchange apta leaves in the Maharashtrian custom, or shamiSona ghya, sonyasarakhe raha — the leaves stand for gold.
- Start a child on their lettersVidyarambham is kept today in Kerala and much of the south.
What to avoid
These are not all the same kind of thing. Some are prohibitions from a named text, some are Indian law, some are practical, and some are a confusion worth not repeating. Each item says which it is.
- Do not stand close to an effigy burnThe Ravana effigies are packed with fireworks and the injury and fire records around them are consistent every year.
- Do not immerse painted or framed images in open waterUse the municipal tanks; the frames and paint are the pollution, not the clay.
- Do not confuse this with Ganga DussehraBoth use dasha — ten — in different senses. That one is Jyeshtha and about the river.
Where this comes from
Everything above is either computed by this site’s own panchang engine, or drawn from the works listed here. Where a custom is modern, commercial or contested, the page says so rather than presenting it as ancient.
- Valmiki Ramayana, Yuddha Kanda, for the killing of Ravana; the twenty-day interval to the return at Ayodhya.
- Devi Mahatmya, for the killing of Mahishasura on the tenth day.
- Mahabharata, Virata Parva, for the shami tree and the taking up of weapons.
- Nirnayasindhu, for the aparahna-vyapini rule and the day's standing as a full muhurta.
Dates are computed for the place named above and will differ elsewhere. Regional traditions vary; where two reckonings are in use, both are named rather than one being chosen silently.
Other festivals
All festivals, with dates for any year · The calendar on the home page