Dashain

Dashain or Bada'dashain, also known as Vijaya Dashami in Sanskrit, is a Hindu religious festival observed primarily in Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Indian regions of Sikkim, West Bengal, Assam, and South India. It is also celebrated by followers of some other religions in Nepal and elsewhere, including the Lhotshampa of Bhutan and the Burmese Gurkhas of Myanmar. The festival is also known as Nauratha, derived from the Sanskrit word for the festival: Navaratri (Nine Nights). The longest festival in the Bikram Sambat and Nepal Sambat annual calendars, it is celebrated by Nepali Hindus and their diaspora. In Nepal, the 15-day festival is the country's longest. People return from all parts of the world and different parts of the country to celebrate together. The festival falls in September or October, beginning on the Shukla Paksha (bright lunar night) of the month of Ashwin and ending on Purnima, the full moon. Of the fifteen days it is celebrated, the most celebrated are the first, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, and fifteenth. From the first day (Pratipada), the worship of the nine forms of Goddess Durga is performed in sequence—Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri, and Siddhidatri.…

Dashain or Bada'dashain, also known as Vijaya Dashami in Sanskrit, is a Hindu religious festival observed primarily in Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Indian regions of Sikkim, West Bengal, Assam, and South India. It is also celebrated by followers of some other religions in Nepal and elsewhere, including the Lhotshampa of Bhutan and the Burmese Gurkhas of Myanmar. The festival is also known as Nauratha, derived from the Sanskrit word for the festival: Navaratri (Nine Nights). The longest festival in the Bikram Sambat and Nepal Sambat annual calendars, it is celebrated by Nepali Hindus and their diaspora. In Nepal, the 15-day festival is the country's longest. People return from all parts of the world and different parts of the country to celebrate together. The festival falls in September or October, beginning on the Shukla Paksha (bright lunar night) of the month of Ashwin and ending on Purnima, the full moon. Of the fifteen days it is celebrated, the most celebrated are the first, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, and fifteenth. From the first day (Pratipada), the worship of the nine forms of Goddess Durga is performed in sequence—Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri, and Siddhidatri. Alongside this, the recitation of the Saptashati (Chandi) is carried out, and special worship and devotion are offered to the nine Durgas as well as the three supreme powers—Mahakali, Mahalakshmi, and Mahasaraswati." ==Etymology== Vaḍādaśain̐ ( ) is a Nepali sandhi. Baḍā ( ) means "important"; daśa͠i ( ) means "tenth", implying the most-significant final day of the festival of Durga Puja and celebrating the dawn after Nauratha (nine nights). The word Dashain is derived from the Sanskrit word daśamī, denoting the 12th day of Kaula in this context. ==Significance== For followers of Shaktism, Dashain represents the victory of Durga over Mahishasura (who had terrorised the devas and usurped their abode, Svarga). The festival's first nine days symbolize the battle between different manifestations of Durga and Mahishasura; on the tenth day, Durga is victorious. Dashain also represents the victory of Ram over Ravan (who had kidnapped Ram’s wife, Sita). Ram had defeated Ravan on the tenth day of Dashain or the Dashami. ==Day 1: Ghatasthapana== on the tenth day.]] Ghatasthapana ( ; "sowing jamara") is celebrated by Jhijhiya folk dancing across Mithila in Madhesh Province as the beginning of Dashain. A kalasha (pot) symbolizes Durga. It is filled with holy water in which barley seeds are sown, and placed in the center of a rectangular sand block. The remaining bed of sand is also seeded with grains. A priest begins the puja by asking Durga to bless the vessel with her presence. The ritual is performed at an astrologically determined time, and Durga is believed to reside in the vessel during Navaratri. The puja room is known as the Dashain Ghar, which is traditionally closed to outsiders. The kalasha is worshiped in the morning and evening, and is kept away from direct sunlight. By the tenth day, the seed will have sprouted to five- or six-inch-long yellow grass known as jamara. The rituals continue until the seventh day. == Dashain abroad== ===Bhutan=== Dashain was declared a national holiday in Bhutan in 1980. It is celebrated by the country's Hindu community, and is a major Lhotshampa festival. The king of Bhutan offers the Dashain tika to representatives of the Hindu community at the Devi Panchayan Mandir in Thimphu every year, and tika and royal blessings are sent to other dzongkhags across the country. The king also offers prayers to Durga at the Hindu temple. White tika is used. ===India=== Dashain is celebrated by Nepali-speaking communities in Darjeeling, Sikkim and Assam. The Gorkhaland movement increased the importance of the Dashain and Tihar festivals. A red tika is used. Nepalese people working in India return en masse during the festival, causing congestion in border areas. ===Myanmar=== Myanmar has a Nepali-speaking population of about 100,000 people¹. Fewer animal sacrifices are made during Dashain, and tika is traditionally offered to descendants of the Konbaung dynasty. Kite-flying is uncommon. ==Contemporary critiques== Many animals and birds are ritually slaughtered, especially on the festival's eighth and ninth days. This has resulted in significant vocal opposition from animal welfare organizations. Indigenous groups (Adivasi Janajati) have expressed their belief that Dashain is imposed on them by the state. To resist what they see as cultural domination by a Hindu elite, several organizations have organized a boycott of the festival. The campaigns have had limited effect, since Dashain and other cultural celebrations are ingrained in Nepalese society. ==References== ===Books=== ==External links== fr:Dussehra ml:വിജയദശമി te:దసరా ur:دسہرہ

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1378418168 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.