Dasara festival is celebrated in Telangana for two days. People go to temples to offer special prayers and see the Palapitta, which is considered lucky during the festival. In Hyderabad, people exchange greetings and have lunch together to celebrate the festival.
Dasara, also known as Dussehra, is an important Hindu festival celebrated with a lot of excitement in different parts of India. The festival represents the victory of good over evil and is celebrated with great enthusiasm.
This year’s celebrations included Durga puja, dandiya, and garba at various places like apartment complexes, community halls, temples, and public areas. People dressed in new clothes gathered at beautifully decorated puja pandals and temples to celebrate. In Hyderabad, houses were decorated with orange marigold flowers and mango leaves for the occasion. The celebrations ended on Tuesday with a large gathering at the pandals. Devotees had set up scores of pandals with Durga idols all over the city, creating a religious atmosphere.
In addition to Telugu people, other communities like Bengalis, Gujaratis, and Marwaris who live in Hyderabad also celebrated Dasara with grandeur on the last day of Navaratri. Community organizations like Hyderabad Bengali Samiti, Prabashi Socio-Cultural Association, and others organized cultural events. Dandiya and garba events were held in convention centers and open grounds throughout the city, attracting many participants. Restaurants and cloud kitchens in Hyderabad offered Navaratri menus and food festivals with different cuisines.
Temples in the city were decorated with flowers on the festival day, and some community members organized free food for everyone. Another tradition during the festival is performing ayudha puja, where people pray for their vehicles. Vehicle owners decorated their vehicles with flowers and offered prayers, believing that this would protect them from accidents.
Divya Khatri, a resident of Secunderabad, said, “I believe that once the puja is done on a vehicle, no accidents will happen. Performing this puja every year gives us assurance and protection.”
