Mysore Dasara | ಮೈಸೂರು ದಸರಾ

Mysore Dasara is the Nadahabba (state-festival) of the state of Karnataka in South West India. 

It is also called Navaratri (Nava-ratri = nine-nights) and is a 10-day festival with the last day being Vijayadashami, the most auspicious day of Dasara. Dasara usually falls in the month of September or October.

According to a legend, Vijayadashami denotes the victory of truth over evil and was the day when the Hindu Goddess Chamundeshwari killed the demon Mahishasura. Mahishasura is the demon from whose name the name Mysore has been derived. The city of Mysore has a long tradition of celebrating the Dasara festival and the festivities there are an elaborate affair, attracting a large audience including foreigners. The Dasara festival completed 400th anniversary in year 2010.

The Dasara festivities began with the Vijayanagar kings as early as the 15th Century. A Persian ambassador, Abdur Razzaq, reported the Dasara observance (originally Mahanavami) in Vijayanagara during his mission to India in his book entitled Matla-us-Sadain wa Majma-ul-Bahrain (The Rise of the Two auspicious constellations and the Confluence of the Two Oceans), a major work which contained an overview of the history of this part of the world from 1304 to 1470.

After the fall of the Vijayanagar kingdom, the Wodeyars of Mysore continued the Dasara Festival, initially by Raja Wodeyar I (1578-1617 CE) in the year 1610 at Srirangapatna.The Mysore Palace is illuminated on all the 10 days of Dasara.

The main attraction of the ten-day Mysore Dasara festival is the Mysore Palace which is illuminated daily with nearly 1 lakh (100,000) light bulbs from 7 pm to 10 pm on all days of the festival. Nearly Rs. 1 crore (Rs. 10,000,000) every year is spent towards maintenance of its illumination alone. Various cultural and religious programs highlighting the dance, music and culture of the State of Karnataka are performed in front of the illuminated Palace.

On Vijayadashami, the traditional Dasara procession (locally known as Jumboo Savari) is held on the streets of Mysore city. The main attraction of this procession is the idol of the Goddess Chamundeshwari which is placed on a golden mantapa(which is around 750 kilograms of gold) on the top of a decorated elephant. This idol is worshipped by the royal couple and other invitees before it is taken around in the procession. Colourful tableaux, dance groups, music bands, decorated elephants, horses and camels form a part of the procession which starts from the Mysore Palace and culminates at a place called Bannimantap where the banni tree (Prosopis spicigera) is worshipped. According to a legend of the Mahabharata, banni tree was used by the Pandavas to hide their arms during their one-year period of Agnatavasa (living life incognito). Before undertaking any warfare, the kings
traditionally worshipped this tree to help them emerge victorious in the war.

On all the 10 days of Dasara, various music and dance concerts are held in auditoriums around Mysore city. Musicians and dance groups from all over India are invited to perform on this occasion. Another attraction during Dasara is the Kusti Spardhe (wrestling-bout) which attracts wrestlers from all around India.