Vijayadashami (Dasara)

Date in 2026

Wednesday, 21 October 2026

Masa

Ashwina

Tithi

Shukla Dasami

Duration

1 day

Observed in

All India; Mysuru, Bengal and the Telugu states in distinct forms

Significance

Vijayadashami closes Navratri on the tenth day, and it carries two victories at once. In the Devi tradition it is the day Durga killed Mahishasura after nine nights of battle. In the Rama tradition it is the day Rama killed Ravana — which is why the north burns Ravana's effigy on it and calls the day Dussehra, from dasha-hara, the removal of the ten-headed one. The two accounts sit side by side without competing, and Rama is himself said to have worshipped Durga for nine nights before the war.

What makes the day practically distinctive is that it is regarded as needing no muhurta at all. Vijaya means victory, and the tradition holds that anything begun on Vijayadashami succeeds — so it is the day for starting rather than finishing. Children are begun on their letters, instruments are taken up, apprenticeships start, ventures open. The aparahna period, the afternoon window when the dashami prevails, is the classical hour for all of it.

The other half of the day is Ayudha Puja, kept most seriously in the south: the tools of one's work — books, instruments, machinery, vehicles, a tailor's scissors, a cook's vessels — are cleaned, garlanded and set down before the goddess on the ninth day, and taken up again on the tenth. Work genuinely stops for it. The idea underneath is not superstition about objects but an annual acknowledgement that a craft is not entirely the craftsman's own doing.

When it falls, and why

Vijayadashami falls on the dashami — the tenth tithi — of shukla paksha in Ashwina, immediately after the nine nights of Sharad Navratri. In Gregorian terms it lands in late September or October, about twenty days before Deepavali.

The rule is aparahna vyapini: the day taken is the one on which dashami prevails during aparahna, the afternoon period, because the victory is placed then. This can differ from a simple sunrise reckoning, which is why Vijayadashami occasionally falls on what looks like the wrong day relative to navami. Where the two readings diverge we say so on the date rather than choosing silently.

Pooja vidhanam, step by step

1. 1

   Bathe and prepare

   Bathe at dawn and wear new or clean clothes. Clean the puja space and the tools or books that will be worshipped.

2. 2

   Distribute the jowara

   The barley shoots sown at Ghatasthapana on the first day of Navratri are cut and distributed. They are worn behind the ear or kept in the house as a sign of the coming harvest.

3. 3

   Ayudha puja

   Place books, instruments, tools and vehicles before the goddess. Apply turmeric and kumkum, garland them with flowers, and offer arati. In the south they were set down on navami and are taken up again now.

4. 4

   Worship in aparahna

   Perform the day's puja in the afternoon window when dashami prevails — offer flowers, fruit and the household's preparations, and recite the Devi Mahatmya's closing chapters or the Aparajita Stotra.

5. 5

   Vidyarambham for children

   A child's first letters are written on this day — traditionally in a tray of rice, with the hand guided by an elder — and the child is started on formal learning.

6. 6

   Shami puja and the exchange of leaves

   Worship the shami tree, in which the Pandavas hid their weapons through their year of concealment. In the Telugu country and Maharashtra its leaves are exchanged as 'gold' with elders, taking their blessing.

7. 7

   Immerse and close

   Immerse the kalasham and, where a clay image was installed, the image. In the north, Ravana's effigy is burnt at sunset.

8. 8

   Begin something

   Vijayadashami needs no further muhurta. Start the thing you have been waiting for a good day to start.

Samagri checklist

What to gather beforehand. Where something is not available, offer what you have — the intention carries.

• Jowara — the barley shoots from Ghatasthapana
• Shami leaves (jammi aaku)
• Turmeric, kumkum, sandal paste, akshata
• Flowers and garlands for the tools and instruments
• Books, instruments or tools for the ayudha puja
• A tray of rice, for a child's first letters
• Fruit, coconut, jaggery, betel leaves and nuts
• Camphor, incense, ghee lamp and wicks
• New clothes

The vrat katha

In the Devi account, Durga fought Mahishasura through the nine nights of Navratri while he changed form repeatedly, and killed him on the tenth day as he emerged half-formed from the buffalo. The gods, who had pooled their energies to make her, were restored to the three worlds.

In the Rama account, Rama worshipped Durga for nine nights before crossing to Lanka — the akal bodhan, an out-of-season invocation of the goddess — and killed Ravana on the tenth day. The burning of the effigy across the north is that day enacted.

The shami tree carries a third. The Pandavas, entering their thirteenth year of concealment, hid their weapons in a shami tree and took them out again at the end of it — on Vijayadashami — before the battle at Virata. This is why the tree is worshipped, why its leaves are exchanged as gold, and why the day is held to favour taking up what was set aside.

How it differs by region

• In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana the day is Vijayadashami with jammi aaku exchanged as gold between elders and juniors, and Ayudha Puja kept in workshops and offices.
• In Karnataka the Mysuru Dasara procession is a state occasion, with the idol of Chamundeshwari carried through the city on a decorated elephant.
• In Bengal it is Bijoya Dashami: sindoor khela, the immersion of the Durga idols in the river, and the exchange of sweets and greetings afterwards.
• In the north it is Dussehra, with Ramlila performances through the nine nights and the burning of Ravana, Meghnad and Kumbhakarna's effigies at sunset.
• In Kerala the day is Vidyarambham, when children are formally started on their letters at temples — the observance that has largely defined the day there.

Common questions

Slokas