Dussehra — October

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On the tenth day of the Hindu month of Ashvin, good wins. Dussehra, also known as Vijayadashami, marks the day Lord Rama defeated the ten-headed demon king Ravana, who had abducted his wife Sita, ending a fierce battle recounted in the Ramayana.

In eastern India, it simultaneously celebrates Goddess Durga’s victory over the buffalo demon Mahishasura, making it a day with two triumphant stories running in parallel.
Celebrated across India and Nepal, the festival takes on a wonderfully different character depending on where you are. In northern India, nine evenings of Ramlila theatre, a dramatic retelling of the Ramayana, culminate in towering effigies of Ravana, his brother Kumbhakarna, and his son Meghnath being set ablaze in a shower of fireworks. In Mysore, Karnataka, the Jamboo Savari procession of caparisoned elephants under the illuminated palace is one of India’s most breathtaking spectacles.

In Nepal, celebrated as Dashain, families gather, elders bless the young with tika, and the country essentially pauses for days.

For visitors, few things compare to standing in an open ground as a fifty-foot effigy of Ravana goes up in flames. It is exhilarating in a way that is hard to put into words.

FESTIVAL ARCHIVE

May +-

  • Buddha Purnima — May

    • March +-

  • Eid ul Fitr — Late February / March (date shifts annually)
  • Holi — March

    • February +-

  • Maha Shivratri — February / March

    • January +-

  • Republic Day

    • December +-

  • Christmas — 25th December

    • October +-

  • Diwali — October / November
  • Dussehra — October

    • August +-

  • Ganesh Chaturthi — August / September
  • Independence Day — 15th August
  • Raksha Bandhan — August
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