When is Dussehra / Vijayadashami?
The answer
Wednesday, 21 October 2026
The tenth. Ravana burns.
Why that day
- The tithi it is
- Ashwin Shukla 10
Read the ordinary way: the day whose SUNRISE this tithi is running at.
And after that
Sunday, 10 October 2027
Ashwin Shukla 10
Thursday, 28 September 2028
Ashwin Shukla 10
How this date is worked out
A festival is a position, not a date. The lunar month is named by the sidereal sign the Sun stands in at the new moon that opens it, and the tithi is the Moon's distance from the Sun in twelve-degree steps. Both come from the same ephemeris this site casts birth charts with.
North India reckons a month from full moon to full moon, so the dark fortnight carries the next month's name — the same day is Shravana Krishna Tritiya in Pune and Bhadrapada Krishna Tritiya in Delhi. These dates use the northern reckoning, and the tithi is printed above so there is nothing to take on trust.
Why it is kept
Ashwin Shukla Dashami — two victories on one day. In the north it is the day Rama killed Ravana; in Bengal and the east it is the day Durga killed Mahishasura and the nine-night war ended. Hence two names: Dussehra, the taking of the ten heads, and Vijayadashami. It is one of the three abujh muhurats of the year — a day on which anything new may be begun without looking up a time at all, which is why a child's first letters, a new vehicle and a new shop are all started today.
The story behind it
Sita taken
Ravana carried Sita away. Rama bridged the sea with the vanara army and reached Lanka.
Nine days
The war went on. Kumbhakarna fell, Meghnad fell, but Ravana would not — cut a head and another grew.
What Vibhishana said
Vibhishana told him the amrit was in Ravana's navel. Cutting heads would never end it.
The end
Rama struck the navel with the Brahmastra Agastya had given him, and Ravana fell. That is Dashami.
The other story
On this same tithi Arjuna took his weapons down from the shami tree at the end of the year in hiding and beat the Kaurava army alone. That is why shami leaves are handed round today, and called gold.
What to keep ready
- Shami leaves, or apta, to hand round
- Marigold and ashoka leaves
- Roli, akshat, a coconut
- Jaggery and jaggery jalebi, which is the day's traditional sweet
- Kalava and a lemon, for the new vehicle, tool or book being started
- For shastra puja: the tools of the house, the vehicle key, a pen, a scale — whatever the family lives by
- Curd and rice, for the tilak
- Incense, lamp, camphor
How the puja is done
1
The afternoon hour
Vijaya muhurta is the eleventh muhurta of the day — in the afternoon, about 45 minutes long. Everything on Dussehra is done inside it, not in the morning.
2
Shastra puja
Clean whatever the household lives by and set it out — tools, vehicle, pen, ledger, scale. Tilak of haldi and roli, akshat, flowers, then the coconut.
3
Aparajita puja
An eight-petalled lotus drawn in the north-east corner and Aparajita invoked in it — 'she who cannot be defeated'. This is Dussehra's own puja.
4
Shami puja
Circle the shami tree and bring back leaves. At home, give a leaf to the elders and touch their feet.
5
The burning
Ravana burns in the evening, after sunset. Shami or apta leaves are handed round on the way home.
6
Beginning something
It is an abujh muhurta — a new shop, a new vehicle, a child's first letters, a new piece of work can all start today without anyone looking up a time.
What to do
- Do the puja in the Vijaya muhurta in the afternoon, not in the morning. It is the most-forgotten thing about the day.
- Give a shami leaf to the elders and touch their feet — that, not sweets, is the day's real custom.
- Start the new thing today — work, vehicle, shop. On an abujh muhurta nobody needs to look up a time.
- Worship the tool you actually live by: the tailor's scissors, the driver's vehicle, the student's pen.
- If you go to see the burning, bring shami or apta back and keep it in the safe or the puja place.
What not to do
- Do not break branches off the shami or apta — take leaves only.
- Do not insult anyone today and do not lend money; on a day of victory, wealth is not sent out of the house.
- Do not carry burnt wood home from the effigy — leaves are brought back, not ash.
- Do not put a dirty or broken tool out for shastra puja; clean it first.
- Do not stretch the Navratri fast to today — it was broken on Navami.
The aarti
Shri Ramchandra Kripalu Bhajman
श्री रामचंद्र कृपालु भजमन हरण भव भय दारुणम्।
नव कंज लोचन कंज मुख कर कंज पद कंजारुणम्॥
कंदर्प अगणित अमित छवि नव नील नीरज सुंदरम्।
पटपीत मानहुँ तड़ित रुचि शुचि नौमि जनक सुतावरम्॥
भजु दीनबंधु दिनेश दानव दैत्यवंश निकंदनम्।
रघुनंद आनंदकंद कोशल चंद दशरथ नंदनम्॥
सिर मुकुट कुंडल तिलक चारु उदार अंग विभूषणम्।
आजानुभुज शर चापधर संग्राम जित खरदूषणम्॥
इति वदति तुलसीदास शंकर शेष मुनि मन रंजनम्।
मम हृदय कंज निवास कुरु कामादि खलदल गंजनम्॥
The sky has a calendar. So do you.
The same engine reads your own birth moment — every house, every graha, every period with dates.