Dashahara
Dashahara in Delhi , statue of the demon Ravana is burned
Dashahara (also Vijaya Dashami, Dasara, Sanskrit , f., दशहरा , daśaharā ; Hindi , m., दशहरा , daśaharā ; Marathi , दसरा , dasarā ; in English with Dussera, Dussehra ) is a Hindu festival that takes place on the tenth day of the The moonlit half of the Hindu month Ashvayuja (or Ashvina) is celebrated, according to the modern calendar usually beginning / middle of October. It is the last day and climax of a ten-day festival that is called differently in each region of India . The underlying legends as well as manners and customs also differ considerably. Dashahara is not only one of the highest religious holidays of the Hindus, but also has important social significance everywhere.
Regional particularities
- In the north of the Indian subcontinent is to Dussehra Rama in the center of worship, and people celebrate the joy of celebration for the return of the divine hero from exile and his victory over the demon Ravana . Essential element are multi-day theater, the religious and entertaining Ramlilas which the stories of the great epic Ramayana recount the deeds and glorify Rama, also the Swang -Unterhaltungstheater.
- In the east, especially in Bengal , the goddess Durga is at the center and people know the same festival as Durga Puja . The believers see Durga as present in their murti , the consecrated statues, during this time . They celebrate Durga's victory over the buffalo demon Mahishasura and with it the overcoming of evil.
- In the princely state of Bastar , the local Raja was considered an incarnation. His participation in the festival as high priest was of great symbolic importance for the tribals there .
- In southern Indian states, Kali , the dark side of the goddess, is considered the victor over the buffalo demon. The holidays are called Navaratri ("nine nights"). For nine days almost every household has a Navaratri kolu, a scaffolding on the steps of which a number of dolls show mythological representations. Women and children in particular go from house to house and enjoy it.
- The festival is also celebrated as Navaratri in the west, such as the states of Gujarat or Rajasthan . Here the goddess under the name Amba ("mother") is at the center of worship. A garbo filled with water is placed on a small heap of earth in which grain has been sown. A butter lamp burns in front of it for nine days and nights, and finally, on Dashahara, the tenth day, the jar is brought into the temple.
- In Nepal the festival is called Dasai (Dashain). The ceremonies are accompanied by an ensemble called panche baja (“five musical instruments”), which essentially consists of the damaha kettle drum , the curved natural trumpet narsinga and the straight long trumpet karnal .
Individual evidence
- ^ Nandini Sundar: Debating Dussehra and Reinterpreting Rebellion in Bastar District, Central India . In: Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. Vol. 7, No. 1 (Mar., 2001), pp. 19-35.