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There are many durga puja legends in hindu mythology. Dussehra or Dasara is one of the most popular Indian festivals. The festival is marked by the worship of Goddess Durga (the incarnation of Shakti), the cosmic energy. The goddess is celebrated in ten different forms for each of the ten days. During the festival, people meet up with friends and relatives. They exchange Durga puja gifts, send gifts for Durga puja to loved ones. Exchanging durga puja cards and gifts has become a vogue now. People also send durga puja sweets to near and dear. Durga puja, Dasara or Dussehra depicts the triumph of good over evil. The question here is who was the root source of evil?
According to scriptures, there was a buffalo demon king named ‘Mahisharsura' who prayed to Brahma for a long period of time. Brahma was pleased by the tapas (penance) and granted him a boon. The demon king asked for immorality, which Brahma refused, then the demon king asked for death only at the hands of a woman, which Brahma had to accede to. Powered by the boon, the demon king became a menace to mankind in general. His misdeeds made people miserable and they prayed for relief from the chaos unleashed by him. Moved by the prayers of humans, the trinity gods of Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva pooled together their energies to create Durga, also called Kali. Durga mata was the incarnation of the cosmic energy of all the gods and goddesses. She was created for the sole purpose of killing the demon Mahishasura. The three main Hindu goddesses, Lakshmi, Saraswathi and Parvathi also assisted Durga ma. Likewise all the gods gave their main arms to the goddess to equip her to kill the demon. Ma Durga, with a hundred armed hands and a ferocity never seen before landed on earth to kill the demon. The battle between the demon and the goddess went for a long time, and finally Ma Durga slayed the demon and rescued the human race from his evil clutches. Since then, this day is celebrated as Dasara across India.
Another famous legend, related to Dussehra is from the great Indian epic, the Ramayana. Rama, his wife Sita and his brother Lakshman were living in the forest when Ravana, the demon king of Lanka abducted Sita. Upset over this act, Rama, who is enraged, goes in search of her and declares a battle on the ten-headed Ravana. Before the battle begins, he worships Durga mata, for victory. The goddess agrees to Rama's wish, but she puts before him a clause. She asks to be worshipped by a hundred blue lotuses before the final battle begins. Rama goes in search of blue lotuses but manages to gather only ninety-nine lotuses. When his search for the last and the 100th lotus turns futile, he decides to pluck one of his eyes, as they are compared with blue lotuses. Moved by Rama's devotion, Goddess Durga blesses him for victory in the war.
The battle between Rama and Ravana starts on Saptami, on a ferocious note and gets fiercer by the day. Rama steals a march over Ravana between Ashtami and Navami. Ravana is cremated on Dashami. Therefore, Dasami is celebrated with more fervor than the remaining days.
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