Religious observations

Aggies celebrate Yom Kippur, Dussehra

By: Calli Turner

Posted: 10/9/08

Sundown Wednesday marked the start of two religious holidays where followers fast: Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, and the festival of Dussehra, celebrated by many of the Hindu faith.

Yom Kippur is the last of the High Holy Days. It began at sundown Wednesday and will end when the sun sets Thursday. The High Holy Days began with Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year.

"Basically, you're atoning for your sins," said Renee Pirrong, a junior economics major. "You go up to the people you have sinned against and you ask for forgiveness."

Yom Kippur is from the nine of Tishrei to the 10 of Tishrei in the Jewish calendar. This 10-day period is also known as the Days of Awe and the Ten Days of Repentance.

Yom Kippur is marked by spending the day in prayer; forgoing food, drink and work; and repenting for misdeeds of the past year.. Abstaining from the pleasure of food is meant to improve one's ability to focus on repentance. The Yom Kippur fast is a 25-hour fast that begins before sunset on the evening before Yom Kippur and ends after nightfall on the day of Yom Kippur.

"We fast, which cleanses your body," Pirrong said, "and you feed yourself spiritually so you're denying yourself food."

India Goldsmith, a freshman education major, said she will attend food services at the synagogue with her family when sundown signals the breaking of the fast as Yom Kippur ends.

Jews attend temple services throughout the holiday, but Goldsmith said she attends once or twice because she is a Reform Jew, the dominant branch of Judaism in the United States.

She said some students skip class for the holiday, but she does not.

"It's a day where you're supposed to focus on yourself and forgiving each other," Goldsmith said.

Dussehra is a popular Hindu festival, which marks the defeat of Ravana by Lord Rama. Dussehra also symbolises the triumph of warrior Goddess Durga over the buffalo demon, Mahishasura. It is the culmination of Navratri, a nine-night festival.

Fast is observed by devotees during all the nine days of Navratri.

Mansi Gaitonde, a junior biomedical science major and member of the Hindu Students Council, said Hindus pray to three goddesses during Navrati. The goddess that is prayed to during Dussehra, and the two days prior, is Saraswati.

"I'll be praying to Saraswati and she is the goddess of knowledge, so traditionally we pray to her and we bring our books - or anything scholastic or an instrument - that you want a blessing on," she said. "Pooja is a ritual to honor Saraswati and ask for her blessing."

Navratri is divided into sets of three days to adore three different aspects of the supreme goddess or goddesses. During Navratri, different forms of mother goddess are worshiped. On the first three days Durga or goddess of energy is worshiped. The next three days are devoted to Lakshmi or goddess of wealth and the last three days for Saraswati or goddess of knowledge.

On the fifth day, it is traditional to worship Saraswati to invoke our spirit and knowledge. On the eighth and ninth day, Yagna (sacrifice offered to the fire) is performed to honor Durga Mata and bid her farewell. The 10th day, on which the goddess kills Mahishasura, is celebrated as Dusshera or Vijayadashami as the victory of good over evil to commemorate the victory of Lord Ram over Ravana. On Dusshera, an effigy of Ravana is burnt to celebrate the victory of Lord Ram.

"In the Hindu religion we view different facets of the supreme power as a specific god, and that can be mistaken as polytheism," she said.

Gaitonde said the celebration is treated differently throughout India.

"The way we celebrate it it's more like a celebration, but it just depends what part of India you're from," she said. "In Gujarat, India, they traditionally have a dance called Garba."