Navaratri
or the nine nights are part of the famous ten-day
Dasara festivities, which is celebrated on a grand
scale in Mysore. After the
completion of nine nights of worship, the 10thday is celebrated as the VijayaDasami
day, the day of victory. The Vijaya Dasami falls on the auspicious
10th day of the bright fortnight of AsvayujaSudhdha, generally in the months
of September-October. It is also called the MaharnavamiHabba or the celebrations of
great nine nights.On each day, Goddess Devi is worshipped in her
different forms.Navaratri
or Dasara is being celebrated
from ages. It can be traced in the two great epics, Ramayana
and Mahabharata. SriRama, an incarnation of God
Vishnu, celebrated it by taking out his hidden weapons
after worshipping the Devi.
The Mahabharata epic princes or the five Pandava
princes took out their hidden weapons and worshipped it before
going for the famous war, the Mahabharata war. This is marked
as the Ayudha Pooja Day.
The celebrations can also be traced historically also. There are
clear evidences of the grand celebrations organised during the
famous Vijayanagar kings
(14th century). The Mysore Maharajas, kings of the Yadu
Dynasty, have continued the tradition. Not only kings
and rulers, even the common man celebrates the Dasara in a great
devotional and religious manner, with prayers and worship. Even
today, the present Prince, Srikanta
Datta Narasimharaja Wodeyar, celebrates the feast for
10 days in the same old tradition, like his ancestors and as prescribed
in the sacred works.