Different Forms of Dussehra - Other Facts Related to Dussehra

Ramlila

The 'Ramlila' is held during the nine days preceding Dussehra. It is an enactment of life of Lord Rama And Sita. Fairs are organised around the country to celebrate this festival and on the day of the Dussehra.  Ravana is cremated along with his son Meghnad and brother Kumbhakarna. Huge effigies of Ravan, Kumbhakarna and Meghnath are put on every nook and corner of te country which are burnt in the evening by the army of Lord Rama.

Simmolanghan

Simollanghan is celebrated on Dussehra. Kshatriyas consider it as a significant festival for Kshatriyas. They believe that when there is no war, the kings must exceed the limit of their kingdom on this day. Once King Yudhishthira asked Lord Krishna about the significance of this day on which Lord Krishna told him that on the day of Vijayadashami all the kings should decorate their slaves, elephants and horses and celebrate the festival with full zeal and enthusiasm.

The king along with his priest should depart towards the eastern side of his kingdom to exceed the limit of his kingdom’s boundaries and worship the Vastu Dev, Ashta-Digpal and Partha Deva. He should make a mannequin of his enemy and dig an arrow into his chest while chanting the Vedic Mantras. Complete all the rituals and head back to his kingdom. Any king who performs these rituals will always gets victory over his enemies.

Shami Pujan

Shami Pujan and Ashmantak tree is also worshipped on Vijayadashmi. As per the legend, goddess  Parvati asked Lord Shiva about the significance of Shami Tree on which lord Shiva says that Arjun hid his weapons in the hole of a Shami Tree during his time of exile and started living as a Vrihanna in the kingdom of King Virat.

Later on with the help of king’s Son, Arjun collected his weapons from the tree and got victory over his enemies. This way Shami tree protected Arjun’s weapons. Other than this, when Lord Rama was marching towards the Lanka, Shami tree predicted his  victory over Ravana. This is the reason that Shami tree is worshipped on the day of Vijayadashami. If one is unable to find Shami tree, then Ashmantak tree can also be worshipped. People exchange the leaves of the Shami tree among friends and relatives as gold.

Shastra Pujan

People worship their weapons on the special day of Dussehra and call for the power of god. They clean their weapons thoroughly that are used in daily lives, arrange them in a row and worship them along with the almighty god. This is an important festival of Kshatriya and they worship Devi Aparajita on this day. People achieve happiness in all spheres of life by worshipping on this day.

Dussehra is considered to be an auspicious to begin new ventures. In ancient times, Kings used to worship on this day for their victory before leaving for the war. Special fairs are organized on this day in every nook and corner of the country. The festival of Dussehra encourages sacrifice of negative feelings like aggression, deception, egoism, violence etc.

Aparajita Pujan

Vijayadashami is also known as Aparajita pujan. Goddess Aparajita is the deity of power and energy. Aparajita pujan gives fruits as per its name. Lord Vishnu is fond of it and thus, provide victory to the devotees who perform this puja. It is a very significant puja for war and lawsuits according to tantra shastra.