Dear Goanetters,
Let us be happy with our Hindu brethren and understand a little of the festival
of Dusserah.
Regards.
Fr.Ivo
Dasara (or Dussehra, literally, "the tenth day") follows immediately the
Navaratri.
The month of Ashwin (September-October) begins with the "novena" of Navraratri
(lit., nine nights). On this festival the feminine aspect of God is celebrated:
Saraswati, the gentle, lovable, and refined wife of Brahma; and Durga, the
warrior-goddess. During the Navaratra, Saraswati is venerated mainly in the
West and the South, whilst Durga is venerated in the North and the East,
especially in West Bengal.
Saraswati is the goddess of wisdom, literature, and the fine arts. Every day a
garland of fresh flowers is presented to the goddess. An oil-lamp must be kept
burning throughout, the lamp is called "mandadeep".
Durga festival is celebrated in the North with pomp. Durga is the
personification of the "power of God" (or shakti). She takes on the role of
punishing the wicked and destroying evil and the establishment of divine reign.
Also known as Mother Goddess, Kali, Laxmi, Ambika, each one with its own
meaning and myths. After five days she "leaves" the statue, which is then
immersed in water on Dussehra day (Vijayadashami).
Dasara commemorates the victory of Rama over Ravana who had kidnapped his
wife Sita and taken her to Lanka. Rama, along with is brother Lakshamana and
devoted follower Hanuman, and an army of monkeys fought a great battle to
rescue his lovely wife Sita. The war against Ravana lasted for ten days and the
story of Rama and Sita is recounted with affection and love in the great epic
Ramayana. It is celebrated with fast, rituals and pomp for physical, mental and
spiritual power. It marks the end of scorching summer and the start of winter
season.
Rama was a great believer in the powers of goddess Durga, and he is supposed to
have prayed to her for nine days before he himself entered the battle-field on
the tenth day and killed Ravana. People proclaimed it as the greatest victory
of good over evil.
Huge effigies of Ravana, the demon-king of Lanka, his brother Kumbhakaran and
his son Meghnadh are made, and filled with large quantities of crackers and
fireworks. At just about sunset, an actor depicting Rama shoots an arrow from
his bow (Ramlila), which hits the Ravana effigy in his navel where a pot of
nectar, the reason for Ravana's invincibility, was stored. Then all three
effigies are set to fire, and there is much merry-making.
Today the weapons are too deadly to be "worshipped". People no longer look
forward to wars. We need peace. So the significance of Dasara has rightly been
shifted from war to peace, from fight against neighbouring rulers to fight
against injustice. Instead of worshiping weapons, people offer tools of
agriculture, vehicles, machines, children's school books, pens, pencils and
household articles as means of fighting ignorance, injustice, evil. It is a day
of fellowship and friendship.
We should understand here the personification of God's attributes as
"females". The biblical book of Wisdom personifies the Wisdom of God as a
"female". God is spirit, neither male nor female, but can be represented as
"father" (as usually) or "mother" (as sometimes he is referred to).
