Rama & Durga
Honoured alongside: Saraswati · Shami tree · Tools and instruments
Two victories on one day, and which one you keep depends on where you are. The north marks Rama's victory over Ravana; the east marks Durga's over Mahishasura. Both are the same idea: the tenth day is when the fight ends.
What the puja consists of
- Where Ramlila is kept, the effigies of Ravana, Meghnath and Kumbhakarna are burned at dusk.
- Where Durga Puja is kept, the murti is given sindoor khela and then immersed.
- Ayudha Puja — tools, instruments, books and vehicles are cleaned, decorated and worshipped.
- Shami puja and the exchange of its leaves, recalling the Pandavas' recovery of their weapons.
- Vidyarambham — a child's first letters — in Kerala and coastal Karnataka.
Core chants
Named, not printed — each links to a recording where the catalogue has one.
- Stotra
Aparajita Stotram
Recited on Vijayadashami for undefeated success.
Not in the catalogue yet — ask at your local temple or gurdwara, or learn it from a teacher in your tradition.
- Stotra
Rama Raksha Stotramरामरक्षास्तोत्रम्
Recited where the day is kept as Rama's victory.
Not in the catalogue yet — ask at your local temple or gurdwara, or learn it from a teacher in your tradition.
- Paath
Durga Saptashati — concluding chaptersदुर्गा सप्तशती
The victory over Mahishasura, read as Navratri closes.
Not in the catalogue yet — ask at your local temple or gurdwara, or learn it from a teacher in your tradition.
- Kirtan
Ram bhajans and Ramlila kirtan
Sung through the effigy burning and the procession.
- Aarti
Jai Ambe Gauriजय अम्बे गौरी
The farewell aarti before visarjan.
It differs where you are. Mysuru's Dasara procession, Kullu's week-long Dussehra beginning when others end, Bastar's seventy-five-day observance and Bengal's Bijoya Dashami are four genuinely different festivals sharing a date.
This page is editorial context, not religious instruction. Where your family, region or lineage does it differently, that is the version to follow — ask an elder or a teacher in your tradition rather than a website.