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Dussehra: The victory of Good over Evil
Of the many important Indian festivals celebrated across the country, Dussehra is one of the most important Hindu festivals being celebrated in different parts of India with great devotion and different styles.
This year we are going to celebrate this auspicious day on Sunday, 25th October. The name Dussehra/Dasra means ‘Dasham ahar’ in Sanskrit language which means 10th day. There are different mythological stories attached to this celebration.
Hindus celebrate this day in the praise of goddess Sarasvati or Durga who fought against the demon Mahishasura for nine days and nine nights and on the tenth day she killed the demon. These nine days and nights are celebrated by worshiping the clay idols of goddess Sarasvati in Kolkata and Gujarat region. In the evenings, people perform traditional folk dances, ‘garba’, ‘dandiya’ and offer puja and oblations to goddess Durga during 9 days. On the tenth day they carry out huge processions and immerse the idols of goddess Durga in the river of seas.
In northern and southern India people celebrate the victory of God Ram over Ravan, the king of Lanka (Today’s Sri Lanka). They burn the statue of Ravan which symbolises the victory of good over evil. It is said that God Ram worshiped goddess Durga before going to fight with Ravan. The day of Dussehra is celebrated with families seeking the blessing of the elders and cooking delicious meals to mark the celebration.
Although this year the Covid-19 pandemic has suppressed the spirit of all the Indian festivals, we at Mumbai Smiles shall celebrate the victory of our warriors, our health staff, police and volunteers who helped us over the last 6 months and are still fighting day and night against this life threatening virus. They helped us save many lives without giving priority to their health and security.
This Dussehra, we will celebrate by respecting the norms such as maintaining social distance, wearing masks in public and washing hands regularly.
Let’s fight for the victory over the evil of the CoronaVirus!
