Odisha: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan attends ‘Ravan Dahan’ Mahotsav in Dhenkanal

Dhenkanal (Odisha) [India]: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday attended the ‘Ravan Dahan’ Mahotsav at Dhenkanal Mini Stadium in Dhenkanal district of Odisha.

Speaking to media on the sidelines of the event, Pradhan said, “I extend my greetings to fellow countrymen on the occasion of Dussehra. Effigies of Ravan are being torched across the country as part of the Ravan Dahan ritual. it symbolises the victory of truth over evil.”

The Human Resource and Development Minister added that Ravan, the hydra-headed demon king from the epic Ramayana, embodies evil and the burning of his effigy reaffirms that truth always prevails.

Vijayadashami, also known as Dussehra is a major Hindu festival celebrated every year at the end of Navaratri. It is observed on the tenth day of the month of Ashvin, the seventh in the Hindu Luni-Solar Calendar.

The festival typically falls in the Gregorian calendar months of September and October. Vijayadashami celebrations include processions to a river or oceanfront that involve carrying clay statues of Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha and Kartikeya, accompanied by music and chants, after which the images are immersed in the water for dissolution and farewell.

In other places, towering effigies of Ravana, symbolising evil, are burnt with fireworks, marking evil’s destruction. The festival also starts the preparations for Diwali, the important festival of lights, which is celebrated twenty days after Vijayadashami.