Dashehra

Vijayadasami
Vijayadasami reveres either Durga or Rama's victory over evil depending on the region.
Also called	Dussehra, Dasara, Navratri
Observed by	Hindus
Type	Religious, cultural
Significance	Celebrates the victory of good over evil
Celebrations	Marks the end of Durga Puja or Ramlila
Observances	pandals (stages), plays, community gathering, recitation of scriptures, immersion of Durga or burning of Ravana
Date	Ashvin (September or October)
2017 date	30 Sep, Sat
2018 date	1 October, Thu

Vijayadashami (IAST: Vijayadaśamī, pronounced [ʋɪʝəjəðəʃmɪ]]) also known as Dasara, Dusshera or dussehra is a major Hindu festival celebrated at the end of Navratri every year. It is observed on the tenth day in the Hindu calendar month of Ashvin, the seventh month of the Hindu Luni-Solar Calendar, which typically falls in the Gregorian months of September and October.

Vijayadasami is observed for different reasons and celebrated differently in various parts of the Indian subcontinent. In the eastern and northeastern states of India, Vijayadashami marks the end of Durga Puja, remembering goddess Durga's victory over the buffalo demon Mahishasura to help restore Dharma. In the northern, southern and western states, the festival is synonymously called Dussehra (also spelled Dasara, Dashahara). In these regions, it marks the end of "Ramlila" and remembers God Rama's victory over the demon Ravana, or alternatively it marks a reverence for one of the aspects of goddess Devi such as Durga or Saraswati.

Vijayadashami celebrations include processions to a river or ocean front that carry clay statues of Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha and Kartikeya, accompanied by music and chants, after which the images are immersed into the water for dissolution and a goodbye. Elsewhere, on Dasara, the towering effigies of Ravana symbolizing the evil are burnt with fireworks marking evil's destruction. The festival also starts the preparation for one of the most important and widely celebrated Diwali, the festival of lights, which is celebrated twenty days after the Vijayadashami.

Vijayadashami (Devanagari: विजयदशमि ) (Kannada: ವಿಜಯದಾಶಿಮಿ) (Telugu: విజయదశమి) is a composite of two words "Vijaya"(विजय) and "Dashami"(दशमी), which respectively mean "victory" and "tenth" , connoting the festival on the tenth day celebrating the victory of good over evil. The same Hindu festival-related term, however, takes different forms in different regions of India and Nepal, as well as among Hindu minorities found elsewhere.