Dussehra Puja Vidhi · दशहरा पूजा विधि

How the Dussehra pujas are done: worship of the shami tree, Shastra puja of weapons, tools and vehicles, and Aparajita puja, as the published guides describe them.

How the puja is done

When

Dussehra (Vijayadashami) falls on Ashwin Shukla Dashami, the day after the nine nights of Navratri. Guides give an afternoon "vijay muhurat" or the evening for the pujas, and they differ on the exact time; see the Dussehra page for the date.

Shami puja

Go to a shami tree, or keep shami leaves on the altar, and bow to it.
Offer water at its root, light a lamp before it, and worship it with kumkum, akshat, flowers, dhoop, naivedya and aarti.
Many keep a few shami leaves afterwards where they keep money.

Ram is said to have worshipped the shami tree before he slew Ravana.

Shastra puja (worship of weapons and tools)

Gather your weapons, tools, machines or vehicles and clean them.
Sprinkle them with Ganga jal and mark them with a tilak of haldi and kumkum.
Offer flowers or a garland and shami leaves, and show dhoop and the lamp.

Aparajita puja

Some families also worship Aparajita Devi, the undefeated form of the Goddess, with blue aparajita flowers, chandan and kumkum, praying for victory.

In the evening

Effigies of Ravana are burnt in the evening, marking the victory of good over evil.

These steps are written in our own words; each appears in at least two of the published sources linked below, and steps found in only one source are left out. Puja customs differ by family, region and tradition; your family priest or family custom comes first.

About this text

Dussehra, or Vijayadashami, celebrates the victory of good over evil: Ram's victory over Ravana, and, in the other story told of the day, the Goddess's victory over the buffalo demon. Besides the burning of Ravana's effigies, the day has its own pujas, of the shami tree, of weapons and tools, and of Aparajita Devi. This page gives them as the published guides listed below describe them; we have not included mantras that we have not compared across editions. Customs differ by region and community: follow your family's way where it differs.