Happy Dussehra! The 10 day festival of Navratri culminates on this day, celebrating the triumph of truth and goodness over evil power, with the story being that on this day Lord Rama fought and finally achieved victory over the ten-headed demon king Ravana. He did it to please the goddess Durga, and typically the first nine days involve worshiping and celebrating her. On the tenth day people celebrate by burning an effigy of the demon king. Navratri is replete with symbolism about vanquishing evil and wanton nature, and the 9 days before Dussehra have an underlying focus on resetting intentions and interacting with devotion and respect for everyone and everything one encounters in life.
There are different customs and traditions of celebrating the Dussehra festival in various regions of the country. In some places, and priests of the temples recite mantras and stories from the Ramayana in front of huge crowds of devotees. In other areas, there are raucous and festive fairs of Ramlila taking place with much music, dancing, and people in elaborate and ornate costumes acting out the story. The common thread is taking time to remember and consider the lessons of choosing good intentions over ill, and always a whole-hearted and often theatrical reconstruction of the ancient lore of how things have come to pass!
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