Thursday, October 6, 2011

Dussera :

To day we celebrate the festival of Dussera or Vijayadashmi which is about Goddess Durga slaying Mahishasura and Lord Ram killing Ravan. While we seem to celebrate all Indian festivals with lot of enthusiasm and gusto, very few of us truly understand the underlying meaning of Dussera.

There are many myths and stories attached to the day and India being so diverse, every place has their own version. Author and mythologist Devdutt Patnaik says , " Not many know that it is part of harvest festival and all the harvest festivals are associated with "violence & killing" as without destroying the forests , we can not create fields and hence food.  Also the part that Navratri (another name fro Dussera or rather the nights preceding it) occurs twice a year, in spring and autumn, reminding us of India's two agricultural cycles, Kharif & Rabi.

Happy Dussera to all the members of Samaj.