Dussehra at a glance
Ramlila plays, royal rites of swords and horses, a sacred desert tree, and giant painted Ravanas going up in flames at dusk.
Also called: Vijayadashami, the tenth day of victory.
Biggest fair: Kota, for about three weeks.
Facts to know
- When
- Ashvin, the day after Navratri, usually October
- Where
- Kota, Udaipur, Jaipur, Jodhpur and every town
- Lasts
- One day, with Ramlila on the nine nights before
- Best day
- Vijayadashami evening, for the burning of Ravana
- Book by
- Three to four months ahead
- Good for
- Families, history lovers, theatre lovers
- Royal rites: worship of arms, horses and the shami tree.
- What follows: Diwali, about twenty days later.
- Pairs with: Navratri, the Jodhpur folk festival and Bundi.
Two victories on one day
Ask a child in Rajasthan what Dussehra is about and you will hear about Rama and Ravana. Ask her grandmother and you may hear about Durga and the buffalo demon. Both are right.
Ravana, the demon king of Lanka, carried off Sita, the wife of Prince Rama. Rama, with his brother Lakshmana and the monkey army of Hanuman, crossed the sea to rescue her, and the great battle ended on the tenth day of the bright half of Ashvin, when Rama killed Ravana with an arrow.
The name: from the Sanskrit dasha hara, often explained as the defeat of the ten-headed one.
The effigies: across north India people burn Ravana, his brother Kumbhakarna and his son Meghnad, celebrating the victory of good over evil.
- Who they are: Kumbhakarna is the giant brother famous for sleeping for months at a time, and Meghnad, also called Indrajit, is the son who once defeated Indra, king of the gods.
- The second victory: the same day is Vijayadashami, which ends the nine nights of Navratri, when Durga kills the buffalo demon Mahishasura on the tenth day.
- Joined stories: Rama himself, the tellings say, worshipped the goddess before his battle. In Rajasthan both victories are honoured.
- A third meaning for Rajputs: the monsoon closed roads and rivers, and campaigning began only when the rains ended. Dussehra marked that moment.
- The old rite: a ruler worshipped his weapons and horses, crossed the boundary of his city in procession, and returned victorious, at least symbolically, before any real campaign.
- Still kept: the old royal houses keep their own rites, which have little to do with fireworks and everything to do with swords, horses and a tree.
- The hinge of the year: Navratri before it, Sharad Purnima five days after, and Diwali about twenty days later.
- In our family: the day the house starts to think about Diwali, with the whitewash, the new clothes and the sweets. For travellers, it opens the season.
- Mysore: in the south, Dasara is a royal pageant with a great procession through the city.
- Kullu: in the Himalaya, the village gods are carried down to the valley floor for a week-long gathering.
- Bengal: the day ends Durga Puja, and the clay images of the goddess are immersed in the rivers.
- Rajasthan's version: part Ramayana theatre, part warrior rite, part village fair, with royal rites still kept and the desert's sacred khejri at the centre of the day.
When Dussehra falls
Dussehra comes on the tenth day of the bright fortnight of Ashvin, the day after the ninth night of Navratri. The moon decides the date, so it moves from year to year.
The build-up: Ramlila performances, plays of the Ramayana in parks and grounds, build to the burning of Ravana on Dussehra evening.
Confirmed each year: we confirm the dates each year before we plan your journey.
Facts to know
- Usual month
- October, some years late September
- Ramlila
- Over the nine nights of Navratri
- Kota fair
- About three weeks around the festival
- Ramnagar Ramlila
- About a month, near Varanasi
- Ranthambore
- Core zones usually reopen on 1 October
- Days
- Warm, around the low thirties
- After the rains: the monsoon has ended, the land is still green, and the evenings are pleasant.
- Early season: hotels are open and the high season is only beginning. Our Rajasthan in October page explains how the month feels.
- A public holiday: many offices, schools and some shops close.
- Crowds: evenings at the big effigy grounds are very crowded and very loud.
- Tigers: with Ranthambore reopening in October, a Dussehra journey can include them.
- Five days later: Sharad Purnima brings the folk festival at Mehrangarh in Jodhpur.
Ramlila, the nights before the burning
By the last days of September, bamboo stages go up in parks and squares across Jaipur, and every neighbourhood has a Lanka, an Ayodhya and an actor who has played Hanuman since he was a boy.
The name: Ramlila means the play of Rama.
The episodes: over the nine nights, Rama's birth, the breaking of Shiva's bow, the exile to the forest, the kidnapping of Sita, Hanuman's burning of Lanka and the great battle.
Community theatre: actors from the neighbourhood, costumes stitched by families, painted sets, harmonium and drum, and narration in Hindi or local dialect.
- The audience: on durries and plastic chairs, children on their fathers' shoulders, and everyone knowing every line.
- UNESCO: the Ramlila tradition as a whole is recognised as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
- Ramnagar: its greatest single performance is the month-long Ramlila across the Ganges from Varanasi, under the patronage of the Maharaja of Benares.
- A moving play: at Ramnagar the play travels across the town, whole districts stand in for Ayodhya and Lanka, and the audience walks with the actors. Extraordinary, if you are combining Rajasthan with Varanasi.
- In Rajasthan: smaller and more local, and a joy to drop in on for an hour after dinner.
- Our guides: they know which neighbourhoods put on the liveliest plays, and will happily translate the jokes.
- The last night: the actor playing Rama lifts his bow, and the play steps off the stage onto the field where Ravana waits.
- How the effigies are made: frames of bamboo covered in paper and cloth, painted with Ravana's faces and packed with fireworks, built by craftsmen in the weeks before the festival.
Where to see Dussehra in Rajasthan
Every town in Rajasthan burns a Ravana on Dussehra. These are the places where the festival is at its grandest, its most royal and its most surprising.
Kota, the great fair
The scale: Kota holds one of the largest Dussehra fairs in India.
Its origins: said to go back to Maharao Durjan Sal Singh in 1723.
- The fair: the National Dussehra Fair runs for about three weeks in Ashvin, with a huge market, rides, cultural evenings, and poets and singers from across India.
- The effigies: on Vijayadashami, Ravan, Kumbhkaran and Meghnad are set alight at the fairground, the Ravan often well over seventy feet tall.
- Read more: our page on the Kota Dussehra explains how we see it.
Udaipur and the Mewar rites
The rites: in Udaipur, the Mewar royal household keeps the Ashwa Poojan for its horses during Navratri, and the Shastra Poojan for the arms of the house on Dussehra.
- The old procession: traditionally the Maharana went beyond the Hathi Pol, the Elephant Gate, to worship the shami tree before returning to the palace.
- Public and private: the ceremonies are private, but the city's own Ravana is burned in public, and the evening by the lake is lovely.
Jaipur, Ramlila in every quarter
Ramlila: stages fill the parks of the old city and the newer suburbs of Jaipur.
- The effigies: the biggest are burned on large grounds across the city on Dussehra evening.
- Morning rites: in the old royal houses and Rajput families, swords, shields and guns are cleaned, garlanded and worshipped.
- The bazaars: full of shoppers getting ready for Diwali.
Jodhpur and Mandore, where Ravana is a son-in-law
The twist: in Jodhpur, local tradition says Mandodari, Ravana's wife, was born at Mandore, the old capital just north of the city.
- A son-in-law: some local Brahmin families still speak of Ravana that way, and a small temple to him stands in the area.
- Mourning, not burning: on Dussehra, while most of India burns him, a few families here mourn him instead.
- Hear it there: ask our guide to tell the story on the spot.
Bikaner, Bundi and the smaller towns
A family evening: a fairground with a modest Ravana, a Ferris wheel and stalls of sweets and toys.
- Bundi: the old town and its lakes make a beautiful setting in Bundi, and the Bundi Utsav follows in Kartik.
- Often the best: these quieter celebrations are often the most charming.
Swords, horses and the shami tree
Walk into a Rajput house on the morning of Dussehra and you may find the family sword laid on a red cloth, garlanded with marigolds and marked with vermilion, as if it were a guest of honour.
Shastra puja: one of the oldest Dussehra rites in Rajasthan. Rajput families, old soldiers and the princely houses clean and polish their weapons, offer flowers, rice and vermilion, and pray for protection and victory.
In the old days: the ruler's armoury, his standards and his war drums were all worshipped on this day.
Now: the swords are mostly ceremonial, but the rite is kept with great seriousness.
Facts to know
- Shastra puja
- The worship of arms
- Ashwa puja
- The worship of horses
- Shami
- The khejri tree of the Thar
- Its story
- The Pandavas hid their weapons in it
- Leaves
- Exchanged for good fortune
- Every trade: in some families the tools of every trade are honoured the same way: a farmer's plough, a carpenter's chisels, a driver's car.
- Ashwa puja: the worship of horses belongs to the same season. In Udaipur, the royal household's horses are brought into the palace courtyards, decorated and blessed.
- Why horses: in a land whose history was written on horseback, the custom makes perfect sense.
- The tree: the shami of the Sanskrit texts is the khejri of the Thar, the hardy, thorny tree that shades every desert village.
- What it gives: leaves for goats and camels, and the beans called sangri for Rajasthan's kitchens.
- Its story: in the Mahabharata, the Pandavas hid their weapons in a shami tree during their final year in exile, and took them out again on Vijayadashami.
- The old rite: the ruler crossed the boundary of his city to worship the shami.
- In villages today: people still pray at a khejri on Dussehra and exchange its leaves as a token of good fortune.
- The Bishnoi: it is the same tree they have protected with their lives. Our page on the Bishnoi villages tells that story.
Dussehra with us, hour by hour
This is how we spend Dussehra in Udaipur with guests who want the royal city, the lake and an effigy, without the crush.
Morning, the worship of arms
Breakfast: slow, by the water.
- A family visit: a Rajput family we know, where the swords are laid out for shastra puja and the elders explain what they mean.
- If not this year: our guide shows you the armoury collections of the City Palace, which take on new meaning on this day.
Late morning, a khejri in the countryside
- Where: a village outside the city where families gather at a sacred tree.
- The shami puja: a lamp, a thread, a handful of rice, and leaves exchanged between neighbours.
Afternoon, rest
- Why: October afternoons are warm, and the evening will be long.
- How: lunch and a long rest.
Late afternoon, the bazaar
- The stalls: sweets, toys, paper swords and bows and arrows for the children.
- The crowd: families in new clothes heading towards the grounds.
Sunset, the burning of Ravana
Our place: found by our team, well back from the effigies and close to an exit. Arrive early.
- The last scene: watch the end of the Ramlila.
- The moment: the arrow of fire strikes, the effigies blaze, the fireworks inside go off and the crowd roars.
- Then go: leave as soon as it is over, before the rush.
Evening, the lake
- Dinner: on a terrace above Lake Pichola.
- The view: the smoke of a dozen Ravanas drifting over the city, and the palace lights on the water.
Sweets for the day of victory
Every festival in our house has its sweet. Dussehra's is a jalebi, hot from the oil, eaten standing up at the edge of the fair.
After the fast: Dussehra is a day of feasting after nine nights of fasting.
On the fairgrounds: jalebi, coils of batter soaked in syrup, fried by the thousand, with pakoras, kachoris and sugary gajak.
- Fafda and jalebi: in Gujarat and parts of southern Rajasthan, the Dussehra breakfast, crisp gram flour strips with hot jalebi, with queues stretching down the street.
- Rajput lunch: often a grand Rajasthani spread with dal baati churma.
- Meat returns: in many families, dishes such as laal maas now that the vegetarian days of Navratri have ended.
- Planning for Diwali: sweet shops start making the dry sweets that keep, three weeks ahead.
- What they make: mohanthal of gram flour and ghee, ghevar in some towns, and boxes of mixed mithai for gifts.
- Read more: our Rajasthani food guide explains the dishes, and our food and royal kitchens page describes the meals we arrange.
Etiquette and safety on Dussehra
Dussehra is joyful and safe for families, but the effigy grounds hold huge crowds and a great deal of gunpowder. A little care goes a long way.
Stand well back: the fireworks inside the effigies can scatter burning debris, and the heat is intense.
Know the exits: arrive early and leave before the very end. The crowds at Kota and the big city grounds are enormous.
- Ear protection: bring it for small children. The explosions are very loud.
- Carry little: keep valuables close. Pickpockets work the big grounds.
- At a shastra puja: don't touch the weapons unless asked, and remove your shoes before the altar.
- Different meanings: in Mandore some families mourn Ravana, and in some communities Dussehra is a solemn day rather than a party.
- Photography and stages: ask before photographing people at worship, and never step onto a Ramlila stage, however informal it looks.
- Road closures: expect them near the effigy grounds in the evening, and plan to leave your car some distance away.
How we plan around Dussehra
Dussehra sits at the start of the season, between Navratri and Diwali. Planned well, it is one of the easiest festivals in Rajasthan to enjoy in comfort.
Easier than Diwali: Dussehra falls before the November peak, so palace hotels are easier to book.
Kota: during the fair, its few heritage hotels fill early.
Facts to know
- Lead time
- Three to four months ahead
- Book earlier
- Kota in fair time, Jodhpur in folk festival week
- Evenings
- One Ramlila, one burning of Ravana
- Pack
- Light clothes, an evening layer, closed shoes
- Next morning
- Kept free
- Jodhpur: in the days after Dussehra, the Rajasthan International Folk Festival fills the city around the Sharad Purnima full moon.
- Two settings: one royal city for the rites and the evening by the water, such as Udaipur, and one great fair, such as Kota.
- On the road between: Chittorgarh and the painted town of Bundi, both lovely after the monsoon.
- Effigy night: a viewing place set back from the effigies and a car close to an exit.
Local tip
Tell us if you dislike loud noise or crowds. We can watch the burning of Ravana from a rooftop or a hotel terrace instead, and you still see the whole sky light up.
Where to stay for Dussehra
The best Dussehra stays put you close to the celebrations and give you somewhere quiet to come back to.
Udaipur, for the royal city
- Inside the City Palace: the Shiv Niwas Palace and Fateh Prakash Palace put you at the heart of royal Udaipur.
- On the water: the Taj Lake Palace gives you the whole lake for the evening of fireworks.
Kota, for the fair
Umed Bhawan Palace: the early twentieth-century residence of the Maharao, in gardens on the edge of the city.
- Brijraj Bhawan Palace: a smaller heritage hotel on the bank of the Chambal.
- The Bundi option: some guests sleep in a painted haveli in Bundi and drive to Kota for the evening. See our page on Bundi's heritage havelis.
Jodhpur, for Mandore and the folk festival
Grandeur: Umaid Bhawan Palace.
- The old city at your door: RAAS Jodhpur, below the fort.
- Stay on: for the full moon and the music at Mehrangarh.
Jaipur, for Ramlila and Diwali shopping
- Where: Rambagh Palace, or Samode Haveli inside the walled city.
- Why: the Ramlila stages and the bazaars are a short walk away.
What to combine with Dussehra
Dussehra is the middle of a great run of festivals. Few travellers know how much can be seen in a single October fortnight.
Navratri, the nine nights before
- Arrive early: for the last nights of Navratri.
- What you see: garba in Udaipur, lamps at the Chamunda temple in Jodhpur, and the walk to Deshnoke for the Karni Mata Fair.
The folk festival at Mehrangarh
- When: five days after Dussehra, around the Sharad Purnima full moon.
- What: the Rajasthan International Folk Festival and the Marwar Festival, both in Jodhpur.
Diwali, three weeks later
- Stay on, or come back: for Diwali, when Jaipur's bazaars are lit end to end.
- The journey: our Diwali in Jaipur journey is built around it.
Offbeat Rajasthan
- The route: our Offbeat Rajasthan journey through Bundi, Chittorgarh and Dungarpur passes close to Kota.
- Why now: in Dussehra season it is one of the loveliest routes in the state.
Rajasthan and Varanasi
- The Ramlila at its greatest: our Rajasthan and Varanasi journey can be timed for the Ramnagar Ramlila across the Ganges.
Who will love Dussehra in Rajasthan
Dussehra is noisy, cheerful and for everyone. But some travellers love it more than others.
Theatre and fair lovers: you will love it if you enjoy theatre, fairs and fireworks.
The curious: anyone curious about the old warrior culture of the Rajputs.
- Early-season travellers: those who want Rajasthan at the very start of its season, green after the rains and not yet crowded.
- Families: children love the Ramlila and the effigies, as long as they are prepared for the noise.
- History lovers: they find the worship of arms and the shami tree unexpectedly moving.
- Not for you if: crowds and loud explosions trouble you, or you would rather see the monuments in peace.
- The quieter way: travel a week after Dussehra, when the fairgrounds are empty, and keep the festival to a neighbourhood Ramlila and a rooftop view of the fireworks.
- Choosing: our guide to the best time to visit Rajasthan will help.