The festival of Dussehra lasts for ten days, and most communities celebrate it with great fanfare. During the festival, the Ramleela (the story of Rama) is enacted by professional drama companies. On the last day of the festival, young men and small boys, dressed as Rama, his brother Lakshman, Ravana, and other players in the drama, proceed through the streets of the community as part of a float that is sometimes quite elaborate. Rama and Ravana engage in a hypothetical battle; Ravana is defeated.

This signifies the win of Rama (Good) over Ravana (Evil).

Large effigies of the ten-headed Ravana, the king of Lanka who abducted Rama's wife, Sita, and was subsequently outdone in battle, are burnt as the sun goes down; on either side of him are the slightly smaller effigies of Meghnada, the son of Ravana, and Kumbhakarna, the full brother of Ravana.