In all of the great religions of world runs a common thread — the promise of salvation and the victory of good over evil. In many religions this victory of good over evil is celebrated by the symbol of light.

For instance in Judaism, Hannukah, also called the ‘feast of lights’, which symbolises the triumph of Judaism’s spiritual values after the Maccabee rebellion, is celebrated by lighting a menorah or a seven-branched candelabrum for eight days.

Diwali, also called the festival of lights, is celebrated 20 days after Dasara and is a commemoration of the time Rama defeated Ravana. All across India, diyas or little earthen vessels are filled with oil and lit as a sign of celebration and hope.

In Christianity Good Friday is the day Christ died on the Cross and triumphed over Satan. Easter, celebrated three days later, is ushered in with the Easter candle or the Christ candle that is blessed by the new fire. This fire or light is a symbol of the victory of good over evil.

The triumph of good over evil is further played out in Dasara, also called Navratri, which is one of the most important Hindu festivals celebrated in India. In North India, giant effigies of Ravana, Kumbhakaran and Meghanad are set alight to the accompaniment of firecrackers and much revelry.

In South India, especially Karnataka, where it is the State festival— it is celebrated as a commemoration of the victory of the Hindu Goddess Chamundeshwari over the demon Mahishasura. The name Mysore is derived from the name of ‘Mahishasura’ and celebrations here run for 10 days culminating with a great elephant procession (called  as ‘jumbo savari’) and much fanfare.

Vasuma, a teacher from Subanpalya, Bangalore, describes the Mysore Dasara as, “ a world famous festival with fairs, poojas, processions etc.” She continues,          “In the olden days, Dasara was celebrated by the kings of Vijayanagar. Later the Wodeyars of Mysore continued the tradition. Mysore Dasara is celebrated for nine days and is known as ‘navratri’. On the 10th day (Vijaya Dashami) the holy idol ‘Bhuvaneshwari’ is taken in procession on a golden howdah on an elephant.”

Navratri is divided into three sets of three days. On the first three days, Durga is invoked as the destroyer of all impurities and vices, in the second, Lakshmi is adored as the provider of all spiritual wealth and on the final three days Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom, is adored.

Saraswati puja is undertaken with particular fervour in the state of Kerala. This might have something to do with the fact that education is given high priority in this state. On the last three days of Navratri all books are kept in front of the goddess for blessing and on the final day children below the age of school are taken to a nearby temple to pray for an auspicious beginning to their studies (Vidhyarambam).

These toddlers are made to write for the first time the words ‘Hari Shree’ on raw rice. This is followed by the same words being written in the child’s mouth with a piece of gold. Thus begins the child’s education or ‘vidhya’ which includes talking and writing. It is usually preferred that someone of renown in the field of art and literature guide the child’s hand for the first time and in many parts of Kerala this special puja is commercialised with publications like Malayalam Manorama and Matrubhoomi conducting large-scale ‘vidhyarambam’ functions with the likes of  O N V Kurup (famous poet) guiding the child’s hand for the first time.

Strains of national integrity also run strong in Kerala with many churches formally adopting the same tradition of introducing young children to education on Dasara day.

In Karnataka and other parts of South India, the ninth day of Dasara is celebrated with the worship of implements that help us in daily life. This is called Ayudh Puja. On this day all objects that help us to do our work like computers, cars, machinery, ploughs are decorated with flowers and worshipped.

Many communities get together on this day and celebrate as one.  Anita Melrose (33) describes how Christians get together with their Hindu neighbours and celebrate Ayudha puja together. A tilak is put on all the work implements and aarti is done to ward off the evil eye. She always attends the annual puja in her neighbour’s house. “This is also the time for gift giving,” she says and explains how everyone, old or young gets something new in the form of clothes or cash. A time for bonuses and blessings...