Article Title: Mysuru Dasara
26-09-2022
History & Art and Culture Prelims Plus
Why is in news? President Droupadi Murmu inaugurates Mysuru Dasara Festival
Mysore Dasara is the Nadahabba (state festival) of the state of Karnataka in India.
It is a 10-day festival, starting with nine nights called Navaratri and the last day being Vijayadashami.
The festival is observed on the tenth day in the Hindu calendar month of Ashvina, which typically falls in the Gregorian months of September and October.
The Hindu festival of Dasara, Navratri and Vijayadashami celebrates the victory of good over evil.
It was the day in the Hindu legends when Goddess Chamundeshwari (Durga) killed the demon Mahishasura.
Mahishasura is the demon whose slaying by the Goddess gave the city the name Mysuru.
The Mysuru tradition celebrates the warriors and the state fighting for the good during this festival, ritually worshipping and displaying the state sword, weapons, elephants, horses along with Hindu Devi goddess in her warrior form (predominantly) as well as the Vishnu avatar Rama.
The ceremonies and a major procession is traditionally presided by the king of Mysuru.
The city of Mysuru has a long tradition of celebrating the Dasara festival with grandeur and pomp to mark the festival.
The Dasara festival in Mysuru completed 409th anniversary in the year 2019, while evidence suggests the festivities were observed in Karnataka state by the Vijayanagara Empire kings in the 15th century.
The Italian traveller Niccolò de' Conti described the festival's intensity and importance as a grandeur religious and martial event with royal support.
After the fall of the Vijayanagar to Deccan Sultanates, these Hindu celebrations came to an end under Muslim rulers
The Wodeyars of Mysore formed a kingdom in Southern parts of the Vijayanagara Empire and continued the Mahanavami (Dasara) festival celebration, a tradition started initially by Raja Wodeyar I (1578-1617 CE) in mid-September 1610 at Srirangapatna.
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