happiness and food

Better be late than never. So what if this post is a little late?? At least, it is going to be an interesting read  😀

As kids, when we were asked to write about India or its diverse culture – I remember using this one line to begin: “India is a land of festivals”. For my readers who don’t know much about India, we are a country of various faiths and religious beliefs.

Here in this post, I am talking about 9 days of worship during fall by people who practice Hinduism. These 9 days are followed by Dusshera (Vijaydashmi – dashmi means 10^th in Sanskrit, signifying victory on the 10^th day). As far as my little understanding goes, I can’t think of any other festival in India which has so many different and varied significance across states.

The essence is triumph of good over evil, and this festival is essentially a celebration of power and truthfulness. Something that really strikes me the most is 9 days of fasting vs. 9 days of feasting theory. To elaborate more, I come from Uttar Pradesh (Eastern India) where people practice 9 days of fasting. These were the 9 days preceding the victory of Lord Ram over Ravan. Quite obviously, these were tough days since Ram’s army was in a war to rescue Sita. It is believed that Ram had sought Goddess Durga’s blessing to gain knowledge about how to kill Ravan. Ravan was himself a great scholar, capable ruler and an ardent follower of Lord Shiv but he invited trouble when he abducted Ram’s wife Sita and was later killed in the battle. Today, Dusshera is celebrated by burning effigies of Ravan and celebrating this day to mark Ram’s victory over evil.

As we go farther east, towards West Bengal, it is believed that Goddess Durga along with her sons visits her parent’s home every year during these 9 days. So these days are marked with celebration and feasting. All across Bengal, pandals are put up and poojas are performed. These pandals depict Durga’s idol with her sons and Mahishasur, the demon who she killed. I should call out that these kinds of set up are an amalgamation of various cultural programs including folk songs and dances, food stall, shopping opportunities and certainly economy driver as people shop for clothes, sweets and what not! That’s why I prefer to call these days, the happy days. J

In Karnataka, where I live, on the ninth day Ayudha pooja is celebrated. Not only here, but in almost all parts of South India, this day weapons and tools are worshipped. This includes but is not limited to worshipping personal and commercial vehicles. It is believed that when the Pandavas were banished to their agyatvas (exile without revealing their identity), they had hidden all their weapons in a tree (Shami). So, before they set on the task to challenge Kauravas in the war, they retrieved their weapons on the 10^th day, Vijaydashmi. Hence, this day is considered auspicious and believed to be the start of all things good.

In Maharashtra & Gujarat, traditional folk dance Garba is very popular. People across all ages come together during these 9 days to perform Dandiya Raas. The songs typically revolved around Lord Krishna and related stories. Across India, Garba has gained popularity and now every metropolitan city including Bangalore boasts of youth participating in energetic Garba nights.

In Delhi, Ramleelas are organized and the Bengali Association also puts up Durga pandals. Not to miss, Garba nights are also quite popular. Even in Himachal Pradesh, Kullu Dussehra is a famous festival celebrated to mark Lord Raghunath (incarnation of Lord Ram) as the ruling deity of the valley. This time in Himachal is marked with international fairs and exhibitions.

So, all in all, so many states, so many stories, so many Gods and true festive mood during these perfect 9 days once a year! Hope you had a good one as I did this year!  🙂