Dussehra is not only its final day. Across the Navratri and Durga Puja period, temples, pandals, fairs, fasting, food and neighbourhood journeys create a ten-day rhythm that differs from one part of Bihar to another.
In some Bihari families, the period is also called Dassai. Children are discouraged from wandering outside during particular hours because this is believed to be a spiritually unsettled time in which harmful spirits may hurt them. This is a living household belief—not a universal rule—and belongs in the record alongside the festival’s more visible celebrations.
The protective dimension also appears in regional performance. Jhijhiya traditions in Mithila connect dance, lamp-lit pots, songs and ideas of protection during the Navratri–Dussehra season. The festival therefore holds public devotion and mela culture together with quieter rules remembered at home.
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