Why do we celebrate Dussehra

                              Ya devi sarva bhutesu, shanti rupena sansitha
                             Ya devi sarva bhutesu, shakti rupena sansthita
                             Ya devi sarva bhutesu, matra rupena sansthita
                       Namastasyai, namastasyai, namastasyai, namo namaha!

Meaning:-          

                 The goddess who is omnipresent as the personification of universal mother
                         The goddess who is omnipresent as the embodiment of power
                         The goddess who is omnipresent as the symbol of peace
                             I bow to her, I bow to her, I bow to her again & again.

Dussehra also known as Vijayadashmi which means ‘Vijay’ means victory and ‘Dashmi’ means the tenth day. It is said that on this day Lord Ram killed the demon-king Ravan and rescued his wife Sita. In other word it is a triumph of good over evil.The legendary triumph is reenacted to the day. In the northern parts of India, huge effigies of Ravana, his giant brother Kumbhkarna and son Meghnath are placed in vast open grounds. Fireworks and crackers are placed inside the effigies.

The program starts before 10 days of the day. The whole act is enacted telling the whole story of Ramayana. The actor dress as Lord Ram along with his wife Sita and brother Laxman. They enact the climax after the battle climax of war with Ravan the actor playing lord Ram shoots a flaming arrow towards the effigies of Ravana and the crowd burst into cheers with the lightning up of the fire.

As India is a country with many religions the Dussehra is also celebrated in different manner in Kolkata. Kolkata celebrate Dussehra as their main festival as Durga Pooja. This day is mark as the end of Durga Pooja nine days celebration popularly named as Navratri. Vijayadashmi is dedicated to Mother Goddess Shakti, who incarnated in the form of Goddess Durga, a combined manifestation of the divine energies of the Holy Trinity - Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh and all the other devatas, when they summoned her to kill the mighty demon known as Mahishasura and freed the world from his terror.

On this day the idol of Goddess Durga is immersed into the water after nine days of festival. It is belived that people at the eastern part of India adopt Durga as their daughter and thus she visits her parent house every year during last four days of Navratri. She comes with her son lord Ganesh and Kartikey, along with daughter Laxmi and Saraswati. She finally left for her husband house on Vijayadashmi.

Although the motive to celebrate it remains the same, triumph of good over evil.