India GODussehra: where to watch Ravana burn, and what else the day means
The night they burn Ravana
Dussehra, or Vijayadashami, "the tenth day of victory", closes Navratri: in 2026 it falls on Tuesday 20 October. Across the north it ends the nights of Ramlila with Ravana's effigy going up in flames at dusk; in Bengal it is the day Durga is taken to the river. The burning itself lasts minutes, so where you stand, and which city you choose, decides the evening.
Triumph of good over evil: burning the demon king Ravana
Vijayadashami, the tenth lunar day of the bright half of Ashvin, taken in the afternoon. The central government's holiday list for the year, issued around July of the year before, confirms the day.
The legend
In the Ramayana, Ravana carries Sita away, and Rama marches on Lanka with an army of monkeys to rescue her.
In a Bengali retelling, before the battle Rama worships Durga and gathers 108 lotuses for her, but finds only 107.
He is ready to offer one of his own eyes for the missing flower, and the goddess, moved, blesses him.
On the tenth day of the bright half of Ashvin, Rama defeats Ravana.
The day is called Vijayadashami, the tenth day of victory, and that evening Ravana's effigies burn across the north.
Meaning
North India
For nine evenings the Ramlila plays out the Ramayana in the open, and on the tenth Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Meghanada burn.
Kullu
Here the festival only begins on Vijayadashami and runs a week: deities from the surrounding villages gather on Dhalpur ground.
Mysuru
The state festival, begun in 1610: the palace lights nearly 100,000 bulbs every evening, and the procession ends at the banni tree.
Bengal
Bijoya Dashami: married women offer Durga sindoor and sweets, smear each other with sindoor, and the goddess is taken to the river.
Maharashtra
Leaves of the apta tree go to neighbours and relatives: on this day they count as gold.
Customs
🎭 Ramlila
Local troupes stage the Ramayana after Tulsidas's poem, and people from the crowd often join in. Ramlila has been on UNESCO's list since 2008.
🔥 Burning Ravana
At twilight the giant effigies, packed with fireworks, are set alight, and ten-headed Ravana bursts into sparks.
Vidyarambham
In Kerala a small child on an elder's lap writes "Hari Sree" in rice for the first time: the day to start learning.
🌾 Barley shoots
The barley that sprouted by the water pot over nine days is cut and tucked behind men's ears or into their hair.
Fresh starts
The day is lucky for beginnings: children start their letters, businesses open, seeds are sown.
What people eat
🌀 Fafda and jalebi
Gujarat's Dussehra breakfast: salty fafda with jalebi
🥥 Narkel naru
coconut and jaggery balls for Bijoya guests
🟨 Mysore pak
gram flour, sugar and lots of ghee, from Mysore's palace kitchen
Words of the festival
विजयादशमी
Vijayadashami
"the tenth day of victory", the festival's other name
रामलीला
Ramlila
a folk play of the Ramayana, staged before Dussehra
रावण दहन
Ravan Dahan
the twilight burning of Ravana's effigy
সিঁদুর খেলা
sindoor khela
"playing with sindoor": women smear each other red
शमी
shami
the tree where the Pandavas hid their weapons; today its leaves are "gold"
How to greet
শুভ বিজয়া
Shubho Bijoya!
Bengal's greeting after Durga's farewell: the young touch elders' feet, friends embrace, and every guest gets a sweet.
True or myth
❌ Myth. The Gond people of central India regard Ravana as an ancestor and one of their gods, and sing his praises at Dussehra.
✅ True. Vijayadashami closes both Navratri and Durga Puja: the north celebrates Rama's victory, the east Durga's.
❌ Myth. In Kullu the festival only begins that day and goes on for a week.
Where to celebrate
What happens on Dussehra
The day remembers two victories: Rama's over the ten-headed Ravana, and Durga's over the buffalo demon Mahishasura. Which one you see depends on where you are.
In the north, the Ramlila (a folk play of the Ramayana) runs every evening of Navratri on open-air stages, with an evening fair around it. On Vijayadashami the story reaches Lanka. At twilight giant bamboo-and-paper effigies of Ravana, his brother Kumbhakarna and his son Meghnath, packed with fireworks, are lit by an arrow from "Rama", and the crowd gasps together as ten heads burst into sparks.
In Bengal the day is Bijoya Dashami: married women offer Durga sindoor (vermilion) and sweets, smear each other red in sindoor khela, and the images are carried to the river. In Maharashtra apta leaves are exchanged as "gold", and across India the day counts as lucky for beginnings: children start their letters, shops open new ventures.
Where to spend Dussehra
Some of the best Dussehras are nothing like the burning of Ravana.
Delhi
Ravana burns on dozens of grounds at once. The big-stage Ramlilas by the Red Fort, with film and television actors in the cast, often have the President and Prime Minister at the burning; at Ramlila Maidan, a ground laid out in the early 1930s for the Ramlila, the Shri Ram Lila Committee stages its own; almost every colony has its own effigy. All free. Details: [Dussehra in Delhi](/en/festivals/dussehra/delhi/).
Mysuru
Dasara here is a ten- or eleven-day state festival with a published programme, numbered seats on sale and the palace lit every evening. On Vijayadashami the Jamboo Savari procession carries the goddess in a gold howdah on an elephant from about 16:10, followed by a torchlight parade. Karnataka sometimes keeps Vijayadashami a day after the rest of India. See [Mysuru](/en/mysore/) and [Mysore Palace](/en/mysore/mysore-palace/).
Kullu
The festival starts on the day the rest of India's ends, and runs a week: over three hundred village gods are carried down on palanquins and camp together on the Dhalpur ground. Probably the largest gathering of local deities anywhere in India.
Ramnagar, Varanasi
Across the river from Varanasi, a month-long Ramayana is played with no stage, no amplification and no electric light, and the audience walks across the town to follow the story. It has run under the patronage of the Kashi Naresh since the early nineteenth century; Bharat Milap, a few days after Dussehra, is a peak night.
Kota, Jaipur and Bastar
Kota burns some of the tallest effigies in India (the 2025 Ravana stood 221 feet) and keeps its fair running for weeks; Jaipur's Adarsh Nagar ground burned a 105-foot Ravana at about 19:00 in 2025. In Bastar, Chhattisgarh, Dussehra has nothing to do with Ravana: a 75-day festival of the goddess Danteshwari, with a hand-built wooden chariot pulled by villagers.
✅ Crowds and safety
A Ravan Dahan is a happy crowd, but a very large one.
- Come early — Reach the ground about two hours before dusk for a view; the burning itself takes minutes.
- Travel light — Big grounds have security checks and bag searches. Bring as little as possible.
- Use the Metro — In Delhi traffic around the Red Fort was closed every evening from 17:00 to midnight during the 2025 Ramlila fortnight. Lal Quila, Jama Masjid and Delhi Gate stations are the way in.
- Keep back — Effigies are packed with fireworks. Stay behind the barriers, and keep children close when the crowd surges out afterwards.
- Neighbourhood grounds — A colony Ramlila is often the least crowded way to see an effigy burn, and just as loud.
Booking ahead
Delhi's room stock absorbs Dussehra without a price jump, so two to three weeks is enough for a hotel. Trains are the harder part: Dussehra opens North India's festive travel season, and routes towards Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal fill as soon as reservations open 60 days ahead, so book six weeks out at the latest. For Mysuru, the Dasara programme goes up on mysoredasara.gov.in about two months ahead, and the government sells numbered seats for the main events.
❓ FAQ
When is Dussehra in 2026?
Tuesday 20 October 2026, the day after Navratri ends. In 2027 Dussehra falls on Saturday 9 October, and in 2028 on 27 September.
What is the difference between Dussehra and Vijayadashami?
None in the calendar: they are two names for the same day. Vijayadashami, "the tenth day of victory", is the Sanskrit name; Dussehra and Dasara are the names used in the north and the south.
Why is Dussehra celebrated?
It recalls two stories: in the Ramayana, Rama's victory over Ravana, who had carried off Sita; in the goddess tradition, Durga's victory over Mahishasura after nine nights of battle. Both are read as the victory of good over evil.
Why does Dussehra come after ten days?
It is the tenth day of the bright half of Ashvin, after the nine nights of Navratri. In Kullu the festival only starts on that day and lasts a week.
Is Ravana the villain everywhere?
No. The Gond people of central India regard Ravana as an ancestor and sing his praises at Dussehra, and in Bastar the festival is about the goddess Danteshwari, not Ravana.