Dusshera is celebrated on the 10th day of Shukla Paksh in the month of Ashwin. On this day, Shri Ram killed Ravan that is why it is called Vijaydashmi (victorious day). Traditionally the effigies of Ravan, his brother Kumbhkaran and son Meghnadh are filled with crackers and burnt.
On this day citing of Neelkanth, the bird is of great importance
. She is supposed to be Shivji personified. Dusshera puja is performed by both men and women.
On this day a special image of Dusshera is drawn on the floor with wheat floor or chuna. People also worship a printed image of Dusshera.
Preparation for the Puja
* Image of Dussehra
* Cow dung, chuna
* Roli,moli, chawal, flowers
* Jhuwara which is grown on Navratre day
* Banana, mooli (radish), gwarphalli (flat cluster beans)
* Jaggery,1-1/4 kg chawal, money for offering, kheer, puri
* Bahikhata(account books)
Vidhi / Method of Performing Puja
* Draw the Dussehra image with wheat flour/chuna, put 9 tikki with cow dung.
* Make 2 katories of cow dung with a lid. In one katori, keep coins and in the other keep a little roli, chawal, fruit and jhuwara.
* Do puja with water, mooli, roli, chawal, flowers and jhuwara.
* Offer banana, mooli, gwarphalli, jaggery, 1-1/4 kg chawal.
* Light the dhoop and deepak, do the parikrama.
* Puia is done of the old bahikhata by offering flowers, jhuwara, roli and chawal.
* On this day only new bahikhata for Deepavali puja are ordered.
* After the puja, money from the cow dung box is taken out and placed in the safe.
* Food and dakshina are offered to the Brahmins.