सनातन पुस्तकालय Sanatan Cultural Library

Dussehra — Vijayadashami — is the day evil loses. In the Ramayana's telling, it is the day Rama slew ten-headed Ravana at Lanka's gates and dharma outlasted brilliance without character, for Ravana was learned, powerful and devout, and fell to pride alone. In the Devi tradition it is the tenth morning after nine nights of battle, when Durga finally destroyed Mahishasura — Bengal's Durga Puja pandals bid the Goddess farewell in visarjan processions this day. The Mahabharata adds a third thread: it was on Vijayadashami that the Pandavas took their weapons down from the shami tree where they had hidden them, ending exile — the root of Ayudha Puja, when tools, instruments, vehicles and books are honoured as the implements of one's own dharma.

Across North India, Dussehra is the finale of the Ram Lila — the nine-night folk theatre of Rama's story that runs through Navratri and ends this evening when towering effigies of Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Meghnad, packed with fireworks, go up in flames before roaring crowds. Mysore crowns the day differently: the Wodeyar Dasara's caparisoned elephants carry Chamundeshwari in procession, a court tradition over four centuries old. South Indian homes keep Ayudha Puja and Saraswati Puja — the day's quieter face: tools cleaned and garlanded, vehicles blessed, children beginning their first letters on the day of victory. And everywhere, exchanging shami or apta leaves as 'gold' recalls the Pandavas' tree. The exact Ottawa date is in the Festivals & Dates list on this page, alongside Navratri's key days.

The Dashami tithi is computed astronomically, so Ottawa's Vijayadashami — calculated on this page for Eastern time — can differ from India's. A full Ravan Dahan needs a field and fire permits, and Ottawa's Indian community organizations do stage Dussehra melas with effigy burning in some years — watch for announcements, and register with us for notifications. At home the day is complete without fireworks: Ayudha Puja adapts perfectly to a Canadian household — the laptop, the car, the children's schoolbooks and instruments cleaned, marked with kumkum and honoured for a year of service; the Shri Ram Stuti or Hanuman Chalisa from our library close the evening. It is also the tradition's favourite day to begin things: a new subject, a new venture, a first music lesson — no muhurta consultation needed on Vijayadashami.