Beating inner beasts with Dussehra fest

Symbolising victory of good over evil, day is said to be auspicious for big purchases like home, cars, jewellery

Today is Dussehra, the 10th day of the month of Ashwin. The day also marks the end of the Navratri and Durga Puja festivals.

According to the classical 'mimansa', or thoughts behind the celebrations, the Mother Goddess, as Maa Kali, killed Mahishasura after nine days of battle. Metaphorically, the Mahishasura is our 'inner demons' and the nine-day fast or 'vrat' symbolises a person's determination to slay them, Nachiket Kojarekar said Guruji, a religious scholar.

A similar thought guides a ritual followed by the Maharashtrian Hindus growing of wheat, jowar, and other seedlings in a pot of mud. The soil symbolises our thoughts and perishable body. The seeds are watered and a lamp is lit near the pot. The sprouting seedlings are symbols of new creation emerging from the fallow soul.