During the recent Dasara festival, we celebrated the victory of Durga (as a representative of “Good”) over various demons (as representatives of “Evil”), so it is archetypically the celebration of the triumph of Good over Evil. But it was MUCH more than this… Since Durga slew demons with her knife, it is a time to get blessings on all knives; and since knives have morphed into all manner of related and unrelated tools, Dasara becomes a time to get ALL tools and vehicles blessed. So there is a line-up at all temples (not only Durga temples) to bless tractors, buses, cars, bicycles, scissors, screw drivers, hair blowers, etc etc. Almost all offices have hired priests to come and do pooja at the doorways, so there are broken pumpkins and squashed limes in every corner, and stripes of sandalwood paste on all windows. All vehicles are adorned with banana leaves and flowers, for Durga’s charms can keep away collisions and break-downs. [Imagine the mess traffic would be without Durga’s interventions!] This was a ten-day fetsival, with several explanations for this indulgent duration. My favourite is that Dasara really celebrates three goddesses, Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati, and that they each get three days, with a grand finale trio on the tenth day.
And next week there is yet ANOTHER big festival: Divali, the Festival of Lights. Guess what this one celebrates? You guessed it: the triumph of Good over Evil. Hey, if it’s worth celebrating once, it’s worth celebrating twice! This time the mythical structure is that the good Lord Rama has returned to his kingdom, and his subjects all light candles and lamps to welcome him home. Another version has the lamps lighted to celebrate the return of Lord Krishna. During the modern celebrations of this time of Devali, there is a massive reliance on fireworks, including NOISY firecrackers all times of the day and night… They are already almost constant, and Divali doesn’t start for another four days!
