Dussehra is one such festival that the country celebrates with great zeal and enthusiasm. But before jumping to the importance of Dussehra, let us first learn why and how is Dussehra celebrated generally.

Dussehra is one of the most important festivals in the Hindu tradition. It signifies the victory of good over evil. A very long time ago, King Dashratha was the king of Koshada. He had three wives- Kaushalya, Kaikeyi, and Sumitra and four sons- Rama, Bharata, Lakshman, and Shatrughna. Since Rama was the eldest of all, King Dashratha wanted to crown him as the King of Ayodhya. Everyone in the kingdom was happy about this decision but Queen Kaikeyi wanted her son Bharata to be the king of Ayodhya.

Years back, King Dashratha had granted Kaikeyi two boons that she could grant anytime afterward. So on the eve of the ceremony, she decided to claim those two boons by asking King Dashratha to send Rama to exile for fourteen years and also demanded Bharata to be the king of Ayodhya. King Dashratha had no option but to cede her these boons.

Lord Rama, Sita, and Lakshman had to sacrifice all the royal luxuries for all this time. They had successfully spent thirteen years in the forests but in the last year of their exile, a Rakshasi by the name of Supranakha tried to seduce the two brothers but in vain but then tried to kill Sita but failed. She returned to her brother Ravana, king of Lanka after all this humiliation. He then abducted Sita. When Rama and Lakshman learned about this, they took the help of Hanuman and progressed towards Lanka.

A huge fight ensued between both of their armies where eventually Rama and his army won and successfully reunited with Sita. The fight went on for ten days where on the tenth day Lord Rama had finally killed Ravana, signifying the power of goodness and humanity is above everything.

Therefore, it is said that Dussehra is celebrated to commemorate the victory of good over evil. In the Northern and the western states, Dussehra is celebrated as the victory of Lord Rama over Ravana whereas, in the southern and eastern states, three different Goddesses are worshipped- Lakshmi, Saraswati, and Durga- all the Goddesses of power and strength.