DUSSEHRA
The name Dussehra is derived from Sanskrit Dasha-hara literally means removal of ten referring to Lord Rama's victory over the ten-headed demon king Ravana.It also means the victory of good over 10 bad qualities like anger, greed, jealousy, selfishness, cruelty etc.
The day also marks the victory of Goddess Durga over the demon Mahishasur.
The name Vijayadashami is also derived from the Sanskrit words "Vijaya-dashmi" literally meaning the victory on the dashmi (Dashmi being the tenth lunar day of the Hindu calendar month).
There are many stories why we celebrate Dussehra. Here are some of them.
Victory of God Rama over Ravana
On this day in the Treta Yug, Rama, also called Shri Ram, the seventh avatar of Vishnu, killed the great demon Ravana who had kidnapped Rama's wife Sita to his kingdom of Lanka. Rama, his brother Lakshmana, their follower Hanuman and an army of monkeys fought a great battle to rescue Sita. The entire narrative is recorded in the epic Ramayana, a Hindu scripture.
Rama had performed "Chandi Homa" and prayed for the blessings of Durga, who blessed Rama with secret knowledge of the way to kill Ravana. On the day of Ashvin Shukla Dashami, Rama's party found Sita and defeated Ravana. Thus it is termed as Vijaya Dashami. People celebrate the victory of good over bad by burning effigy’s of Raavana.
Victory of Durga Mata over Mahishasura
Some of the demons, or Asuras, were very powerful and ambitious and continually tried to defeat the Devas, or Gods, and capture Heaven. One Asura, Mahishasura, in the form of a buffalo, grew very powerful and created havoc on the earth. Under his leadership, the Asuras defeated the Devas. The world was crushed under Mahishasura's cruelty, the Devas joined their energies into Shakti, a single mass of energy, to kill Mahishasura.
A very powerful band of lightning emerged from the mouths of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and Shakti or Durga with ten hands appeared. All the Gods gave their special weapons to her. Riding on a lion, Durga fought Mahishasura. The battle raged for nine days and nights. Finally on the tenth day of Ashvin shukla paksha(hindu calender), Mahishasura was defeated and killed by Durga.
Hence Dasha-Hara is also known as Navratri or Durgotsav and is a celebration of Durga's victory. This day marks the end of Durga Puja so people immerse the idols and go to each others' house and exchange gifts and sweets.
Homecoming of Durga Maata
Daksha, the Lord of the Earth, and his wife Prasuti, had a daughter called Sati. As a child, Sati started worshipping Lord Shiva as her would-be-husband. Lord Shiva was pleased with the Sati's worship of him and married her. Daksha was against their marriage but could not prevent it. Daksha arranged a yagna to which everyone except Lord Shiva was invited. Sati, feeling ashamed of her father's behaviour and shocked by the attitude meted towards her husband, killed herself. Lord Shiva was anguished when he discovered this. He lifted Sati's body on his shoulders and started dancing madly. As the supreme power was dancing with wrath, the world was on the verge of destruction.
Then Lord Narayana came forward as a saviour and used his Chakra to cut Sati's body into pieces. Those pieces fell from the shoulders of the dancing Shiva and scattered throughout the Indian subcontinent. Shiva was pacified when the last piece fell from his shoulder. Lord Narayana revived Sati. The places where the pieces of Sati fell are known as the "Shakti Piths" or energy pits. Kalighat in Kolkata, Kamakshya near Guwahati and Vaishnav Devi in Jammu are three of these places.
In her next birth, Sati was born as Parvati or Shaila-Putri (First form of Durga), the daughter of Himalaya. Lord Narayana asked Shiva to forgive Daksha. Ever since, peace was restored and Durga with her children Saraswati, Lakshmi, Kartikeya, Ganesh and her two sakhis – Jaya and Vijaya visit her parents each year during the season of autumn, when Durga-Puja is celebrated.
End of Agyatawas of Pandavas
In the age of Dvapara Yuga, Pandavas – the five sons of Pandu , lost to Kauravas in a game of dice, and both spent twelve years of Vanawas, or exile to the forest, followed by one year of Agyatawas. The brothers hid their weapons in a hole in a Shami tree before entering the Kingdom of Virat to complete the final year of Agnyatawas. After that year, on Vijayadashmi, they recovered the weapons, declared their true identities and defeated Kauravas, who had attacked King Virat to steal his cattle. Since that day, Shami trees and weapons have been worshipped and the exchange of Shami leaves on Vijayadashmi has been a symbol of good will and victory. This is also called Shami/Jammi Puja