The splendid city of Mysore in India got its name from the main deity of Mysore, who decimated the evil demon Mahishasura and gained the name Mahishasura Mardini (the goddess Durga who killed the demon). The evil demon was destroyed during a fight that lasted 10 days.
The festival is 10 days long and the city gets illuminated. In the past, only the Mysore Palace and certain of the palaces on the Chamundi Hills were illuminated by thousands and thousands of incandescent bulbs on the surface of the palace and its environs. Things have changed now and the recent pictures of the illuminated city may steal the name 'City of Lights' from Paris.
The burning of the 5-6 storey tall effigy of Ravana (of Ramayana) on the last day of Dussehra or Dasara (as it is called in Mysore) has left an indelible visual in my memory. It used to take place year after year on a street right behind my high school (D.Banumiah's High School) and not too far from where we lived at the time, Krishna Vilas Aghrahar (the quarter of the city where mostly followers of Ramanuja the great philosopher lived).
Things have changed and more demons to be burned are added to the list. See this lavish burning of Ravana and his henchman in Bengaluru organized by ISKON. ISKON somehow gives Hindu rituals an 'Holloywoodian' touch.
In the somewhat chilly nights of October the warmth of the burning had a very welcome & comforting feeling.
Folks in India and Nepal (Hinduism is the major religion) celebrate the festival, all ten days of it.
The last day of Dasara was also when the Maharaja went out in great style, sitting on the golden howdah on the royal elephant to pay his respects to the family Gods at Banni Mantap.
The festival is 10 days long and the city gets illuminated. In the past, only the Mysore Palace and certain of the palaces on the Chamundi Hills were illuminated by thousands and thousands of incandescent bulbs on the surface of the palace and its environs. Things have changed now and the recent pictures of the illuminated city may steal the name 'City of Lights' from Paris.
The burning of the 5-6 storey tall effigy of Ravana (of Ramayana) on the last day of Dussehra or Dasara (as it is called in Mysore) has left an indelible visual in my memory. It used to take place year after year on a street right behind my high school (D.Banumiah's High School) and not too far from where we lived at the time, Krishna Vilas Aghrahar (the quarter of the city where mostly followers of Ramanuja the great philosopher lived).
Things have changed and more demons to be burned are added to the list. See this lavish burning of Ravana and his henchman in Bengaluru organized by ISKON. ISKON somehow gives Hindu rituals an 'Holloywoodian' touch.
In the somewhat chilly nights of October the warmth of the burning had a very welcome & comforting feeling.
Folks in India and Nepal (Hinduism is the major religion) celebrate the festival, all ten days of it.
The last day of Dasara was also when the Maharaja went out in great style, sitting on the golden howdah on the royal elephant to pay his respects to the family Gods at Banni Mantap.
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