MADURAI: On the occasion of Vijayadashami, 108 women played veena at the world-renowned Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple. The connoisseurs watched in delight as the performers played in unison and soothing Carnatic music reverberated in the concert hall.

Vijayadashami, also known as Dussehra is a major Hindu festival celebrated every year at the end of Navaratri. It is observed on the tenth day of the month of Ashvin, the seventh in the Hindu Luni-Solar Calendar.

The festival typically falls in the Gregorian calendar months of September and October. Vijayadashami celebrations include processions to a river or oceanfront 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.