hi i was wondering??

Question

wat is dasara?

Answer 1

Dasara, also called "Navaratri", is among the most important festivals celebrated in Southern India. Unlike Dussera, this is celebrated for 10 days in Southern parts.

The Festival of Dasara is celebrated on the occasion of Navaratri. Celebrations are unique ranging from worshipping goddess Chamundeshwari (Durga) to exhibiting colorful toys on the day of 'bombe habba' in Kannada or 'Bommala Koluvu' in Telugu.

Dussehra is celebrated in various ways in different parts of South Asia. In Bengal, the festival is celebrated as Kali Puja or Durga Puja, while in Tamil Nadu, the festival incorporates worship of the goddesses Lakshmi, Saraswati, and Shakti.

Some people feel that Dussehra and Dasara are not simply different transliterations of the same word, but two different festivals.

Dasara is the festival marking end of Navratri and the immersion of Durga idols which are worshipped for nine days prior to Dussehra. Dussehra is also the day when many families start formal education of their kids. The practise has been so old, that in some parts of Kerala, even after conversions to Christianity, some members of the community continued this tradition. In 2004, many churches in Kerala formally adopted the same tradition of introducing young children to education on Dussehra day.

The Dasara celebrations in Mysore are popular with tourists, and are conducted with great pomp. Dasara is celebrated in Nepal by the name of Dashain.

Vijaya Dasami is the most important festival of the Bharath. This is celebrated in the Aswayuja maasa from the Sukla Paksha Prathama onwards (The next of the New moon day) to the Dasami or the tenth day of the Moon accession. This festival is celebrated not only in India but in almost all eastern countries as far as Java, Sumathra and Japan too. This festival is also called a DASARÃ, from the Sanskrit word Dasa Harã or removing the ten(10). This is the most auspicious festival in the Dakshinaayana or in the Southern hemisphere motion of the Sun. These are also called as the Devi Navarãthtri, as in these days the Divine Mother is invoked in different manifestations of her Sakthi. This festival is synthesized from the Sãkthe'ya Ãgamãs which deals with the Uthchãtana and Aakarshana part of the mantrãs of Tantra Sastrã. The predominant principle of this festival is to worship feminine principle of the cosmos in the form of the divine mother to remind the teachings of the Taithareeya Upanishad, "Maathru Devo Bhava." The whole essence of the navaraathri celebration at social level is to remind all the women, who are the guardians of the family, culture, and national integrity, to take lead in times of crisis to guide the humanity towards the path of social justice, righteousness, equality, love, and divinity.

The first day of the festival is called as Bali Paadyami. Actually on this day the Sun will enter in the Tulã Rãsi or the constellation of Libra. Actually in Asian countries the harvest season begins in this time and as mother earth is the source of all food the mood of celebrity is invoked in all folks to start afresh the harvests and in that process to reactivate the vigor and fertility of the soil by doing certain performances and rituals which invoke cosmic forces for the rejuvenation off the soil. The culmination of the festival is done in the form of sub-merging the huge vigrahas of the Mother Bhavani (Durga) in the river waters. These vigrahas are made with the clay and the pooja is done with turmeric and other poojã materials which are powerful disinfectants and are mixed in the river waters, which are afresh in monsoon season with rain seeping into the rivers after imbibing the mineral sediments in different brooks and under water channels. This water cannot be directly used for the irrigation purposes directly when the agriculture is started afresh in the months of October and November. So the purification of river waters is done as a collective community event in the form of Navaraathri celebrations.

The second important celebration during these 10 days is celebration of Ram Lila, victory of Lord Rama over King Ravana. Huge idols of Ravana Kumbha karna and Meegha Naatha are errected and are set in fire by the enthusiastic youth. From the time of the Navarathri, the hot weather of the summer season ends, especially in North India. As the cold weather starts, it is the breeding ground for many kinds of infections in winter months. This is the reason for the huge Ravana idols are lit in the crackers (which contain phosphorous) as a community festival to act as the purifier of the atmosphere. At the same time the temples used to perform Chandi Homam or Durgã Homam which also helps in purifying the amosphere surrounding them. All house holds used to perform Aditya Homa as a Santhi Yagna and recite Sundara Kaanda of Srimad Raamaayana for 9 days. All these Yagna Performances is to create a powerfull agents into the atmosphere surrounding the house so as to keep the household environment clean.

Usually all house holds (yajamaanaas) used to perform yagnas 3 times daily along with sandhya vandana, called as Aahavaneeya Agni, Gaarhapathya Agni, Dakshina Agni. In addition to this, the Aditya Homa is performed with the Maha Soura Mantras and the Aruna Prapaathhaka of the Yajur Veda. The effects of these mantras is to keep the heart, brain and digestive functions of the body in balance. The imbalances in these occur in the absence of adequate sunlight in the winter months.

Legends of Dussehra

Dussehra is the day, when Rama killed Ravana and won back his wife (Hence also called Vijayadashmi) who had managed to save her honor from the dirty hands of Ravana and was waiting anxiously to meet her husband.

Dussehra is also reminiscent of the end of the exile and banishment of the Pandava princes in the epic Mahabharata and their return with their weapons to reclaim their kingdom.

Vijayadashami is also celebrated as the day of victory to rejoice about Durga's triumph over the demons led by Mahishasura. It is essentially a festival in honor of Durga. The Divine Mother fought with him for nine nights, and killed him on the evening of the tenth day, known as the Vijaya Dasami.

Vijayadashami is also the day of the Saraswati or the deity of knowledge and learning

Whenever we think of India we think as a land of festivals. Every festival in India epitomizes the social, cultural and religious aspirations of the people. Every festival brings with it few days of happiness and joy in the life of the people. Navratri, or 'The Festival of Nine Nights', is celebrated during the first nine days of the Hindu month of Ashvin (September-October). The festival is dedicated to the worship of Mother Goddess or Shakti and her nine forms. This season is considered to be an auspicious one as it is generally associated with the sowing of seeds. People sow seeds on the first day, consecrate the planets, watch the sprouting and worship Goddess Durga during this festival. The last three days are especially considered most important. The nine-day is equally divided in worshiping three goddesses. The first three days are dedicated to Goddess Durga. The next three days are spent in worshipping goddess Lakshmi and the last three days are dedicated to Goddess Saraswati. The day after Navratri the festival of Dussehra is celebrated.

We all celebrate Durga puja but hardly anyone knows the history or origin behind the celebration. As in case of most of the Indian festivals we have to refer to Hindu mythology to trace out the origin. The festival of Durga puja comes with its own retinue of mythological stories. There are various legends associated with its origin but the most important and prevalent among them is the legend of Lord Rama (the incarnation of Lord Vishnu). When lord Rama was fighting a battle with Ravana (the demon king) to rescue his wife Sita whom Ravana abducted and held as hostage in Lanka, his kingdom. That time a fierce battle ensued. In that battle Ravana could not be defeated. So Lord Ram decided to seek the blessings of Shakti (Goddess Durga) in order to defeat the demon. For that puja, which lord Ram was performing 108 blue lotus were needed for the worship of Goddess Durga but Rama could manage only 107. But without that one lotus his puja would be incomplete so he was on the verge of laying one of his eyes that was lotus-shaped and blue in color at the Goddess's feet when Goddess Durga appeared and satisfied with his devotion, granted her blessing and eventually he won the battle against Ravana. The time he worshipped was Spring season so from that time onwards Durga puja is celebrated.


The festival of Navratri acquires quite a fascinating and colorful dimension in the region of Gujarat, and in some parts of Rajasthan and Maharashtra. The highlights of the festival are the extremely colorful dances of Garbha and Dandiya-Rasa where men and women of all sects perform. The Rasa has its origin in the life scenes of Lord Krishna and is associated with the agricultural rites while Garba is performed only by men and is related with the fertility cult or the mother aspect of Navratri. In the south, Dusshera is very popular while in the east, the seventh to the tenth days of Durga Puja are celebrated with much vigor and enthusiasm. Besides the Garba Dance of Gujarat, the most popular events on the auspicious occasions of Navratri are Ramlila of Varanasi, Dusshera of Mysore and Durga Puja of Bengal. All these celebrations have a special significance according to their region. The rituals are based according to the culture and traditions of that particular region.

Answer 2

Dasara, also called "Navaratri", is among the most important festivals celebrated in Southern India. Unlike Dussera, this is celebrated for 10 days in Southern parts.

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