The same Hindu festival-related term, however, takes different forms in different regions of India and Nepal, as well as among Hindu minorities found elsewhere. Vijayadashami ( Devanagari: विजयदशमी ) ( Telugu: విజయదశమి) ( Odia : ଵିଜୟା ଦଶମୀ) ( Kannada: ವಿಜಯದಶಮಿ) ( Tamil: விஜயதசமி) (Malayalam: വിജയദശമി) (Bengali: বিজয়া দশমী) a composite of two words 'Vijaya' (विजय) and 'Dashami' (दशमी), which respectively mean 'victory' and 'tenth,' connoting the festival on the tenth day celebrating the victory of good over evil.

The festival also starts the preparations for Diwali, the important festival of lights, which is celebrated twenty days after Vijayadashami. Elsewhere, on Dasara, towering effigies of Ravan, symbolising evil, are burnt with fireworks, marking evil's destruction. Vijayadashami celebrations include processions to a river or ocean front that involve carrying clay statues of Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha and Kartikeya, accompanied by music and chants, after which the images are immersed in the water for dissolution and farewell. Alternatively, it marks a reverence for one of the aspects of goddess Devi, such as Durga or Saraswati. On the very same occasion, Arjuna alone decimated more than 1,000,000 soldiers and defeated all Kuru warriors including Bhishma, Drona, Ashwatthama, Karna and Kripa, a significant example of victory of good (Dharma) over evil (Adharma). In these regions, it marks the end of Ramlila and remembers god Rama's victory over the Ravan. In the northern, central and western states, the festival is synonymously called Dussehra (also spelled Dasara, Dashahara). In the southern, eastern, northeastern, and some northern states of India, Vijayadashami marks the end of Durga Puja, remembering goddess Durga's victory over the buffalo demon Mahishasura to restore and protect dharma. Vijayadashami is observed for different reasons and celebrated differently in various parts of the Indian subcontinent. It is observed on the tenth day in the Hindu calendar month of Ashvin, the seventh month of the Hindu Luni-Solar Calendar, which typically falls in the Gregorian months of September and October. Vijayadashami ( IAST: Vijayadaśamī) also known as Dussehra, Dasara or Dashain, is a major Hindu festival celebrated at the end of Navaratri every year.

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