Why people celebrate dussera?Is it only celebrated by North Indians??????
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Vijayadashami (IAST: Vijayadaśamī, pronounced [ʋɪʝəjəðəʃmɪ]]) also known as Dasahara, Dusshera, Dasara, Dussehra or Dashain is a major Hindu festival celebrated at the end of Navratri every year. It is observed on the tenth day in the Hindu calendar month of Ashvin, the seventh month of the Hindu Luni-Solar Calendar, which typically falls in the Gregorian months of September and October.[4][5][6]
Vijayadasami
Navratri Navaratri festival preparations and performance arts collage.jpg
Vijayadasami reveres either Durga's or Rama's victory over evil depending on the region.[1]
Also called
Dussehra, Dasara, Navrathri
Type
Religious, Cultural
Significance
Celebrates the victory of good over evil
Celebrations
Marks the end of Durga Puja or Ramlila
Observances
pandals (stages), plays, community gathering, recitation of scriptures, immersion of Durga or burning of Ravana
Date
Ashvin (September or October)
2017 date
30 Sep, Sat[2]
2018 date
18 October, Thu (south India)
19 October, Fri (northern and eastern India)[3]`
Vijayadashami is observed for different reasons and celebrated differently in various parts of the Indian subcontinent.[7][1][8][4] In the southern, eastern and northeastern states of India, Vijayadashami marks the end of Durga Puja, remembering goddess Durga's victory over the buffalo demon Mahishasura to help restore dharma.[4][9] In the northern and western states, the festival is synonymously called Dussehra (also spelled Dasara, Dashahara). In these regions, it marks the end of "Ramlila" and remembers God Rama's victory over the Ravana. On the very same occasion; Arjuna alone defeated entire Kaurava army consisting of 100,000s of soldiers, Bhishma, Drona, Karna, Ashwatthama, Kripa, Duryodhana, Dushyasana, Shakuni etc. - there by significantly quoting a natural example of victory of Good (Dharma) over evil (Adharma). Alternatively it marks a reverence for one of the aspects of goddess Devi such as Durga or Saraswati.[1][5][6]
Vijayadashami celebrations include processions to a river or ocean front that carry clay statues of Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha and Kartikeya, accompanied by music and chants, after which the images are immersed into the water for dissolution and a goodbye. Elsewhere, on Dasara, the towering effigies of Ravana symbolizing the evil are burnt with fireworks marking evil's destruction. The festival also starts the preparation for one of the most important and widely celebrated Diwali, the festival of lights, which is celebrated twenty days after the Vijayadashami.[10][11][1]