Dussehra - The Tenth Day

Today marks the tenth and final day of Dussehra (Vijayadashami) celebrations.

Though India looks very small on the map, it is in fact very huge when it comes to customs and traditions. It becomes very evident during the festivals. There are different kinds of celebrations for the same festival. People take it very personal to celebrate their festival in a grand manner. After all the festivals give them a chance to come together as one small community while the rest of the days they are busy with their own family.

Got a call from Adda in the morning about their unique Bengali tradition known as Sindur Khela which is played by married Bengali women on the tenth day of the festival. It is all about applying vermilion on one another and on goddess Durga. It was something new to me as we don't have a similar tradition in our culture. I joined Adda in photographing the event and really enjoyed watching/photographing it.

Today also marks an important historical Hindu event of lord Rama returning from exile. This event is celebrated as a grand festival by burning an effigy of Ravana (an evil king) on the tenth day to portray the victory of good over evil. As there was a local setup of this event near Adda's house we both headed there in the evening. To my surprise, so many people turned up to watch the event regardless of the drizzle. It was fun watching the display of fireworks and the effigy burning event itself. Finally a good end to the Dussehra festival!

Today I am really happy to have chosen photography as my hobby. It has brought me closer to people and their traditions!