Throughout my childhood, I looked forward to pujo. That was when we got new dresses, skipped school, ate delicious Bengali junk food, and were swept up in the Durga puja celebrations in Bombay (Mumbai). For five days we visited different pandals (tents where the prayers were held) throughout Bombay. But, I only missed four days of school because the fifth day was Dassehra, a school holiday.

I knew the Dassehra festival celebrated the victory of good over evil: Lord Ram vanquished King Ravana; Ma Durga slew the demon Mahishasura. However, during a recent trip to Bengaluru, it was our Uber driver who clued me into one of the myriad ways in which Indians celebrate this 10-day period in the Hindu month of Ashvin. He told us about the lavish and elaborate Dassara celebrations in Mysore: the highlight of which is a procession that includes an ornately caparisoned elephant with an idol of the Goddess Chamundeshwari in a gold howdah on its back. Our driver was also enthralled by how magical the palace looked when it is lit up with thousands of lights, and offered to drive us to Mysore because he felt no one should miss the celebration.

Although our plans for the weekend prevented us from going to Mysore, fortunately Samantha Bennett, a Fulbright-Nenru student researcher did and she shares her experience of the “Dassara celebrations in Mysore, from inside the palace grounds.” She saw “a parade that stretched from 2pm – 10 pm … greetings from the prince, followed by fireworks” and, the turning on of the palace lights.