[5] On this occasion, the implements employed by people of various professions and walks of life are customarily venerated, such as the weapons of a soldier, tools of an artisan, and the books of a student.

The religious significance of this occasion is to commemorate the victory of the goddess Durga over Mahishasura, or the conquest of Lanka by Rama.

[4] In South India, the occasion is primarily dedicated to Saraswati, with the practice of educational materials such as books, pens, pencils, musical instruments, and other equipment being venerated, to signify the victory of knowledge over ignorance.

[6][7] In the contemporary era, the tradition of this occasion is retained by the consecration of computers, typewriters, and mobile phones in the same manner as practiced in the past for weapons of warfare.

[8][9] In Orissa, tools traditionally used for cultivation like plough, war like sword and dagger, and inscription writing like "karani" or "lekhani" (metal stylus) are worshipped.

It is said that on Vijayadashami day Arjuna, third of the five Pandava brothers, retrieved his weapons of war from the hole in the shami tree where he had hidden it before proceeding on the forced exile.

Krishna had suggested to Yudhishthira-the eldest of the Pandavas, to sacrifice Aravan to goddess Kali as a part of Ayudha Puja.

In the case of weapons of war, they are also cleaned, bedecked with flowers and tilak and placed in a line, adjacent to a wall.

After a gala nine days of durbar, the Maharaja performs a puja in a temple in the palace precincts, which is followed by a grand procession through the main thoroughfares of the Mysore city to the Bannimantap on a caparisoned elephant.

[19][20] In villages in Kerala, the Ayudha puja is observed with great reverence and several martial art forms and folk dances are also performed on that day.

On this occasion dolls, predominantly that of the deities from Hinduism, are artistically arranged on a seven-stepped wooden platform.

Traditionally, 'marapachi' wooden dolls representing Perumal and Thayar are also displayed together at a dominant location on the top step of the platform erected specially for the occasion.

All weapons, vehicles, agricultural equipment, machines and metal items are worshipped with leaves of the shami tree (Marathi: आपट्याची पाने/सोने), marigold flowers and the 'dhaan' that is grown during 9 days of Navaratri.

People perform a ritual called Simollanghan, crossing boundary of the village and collect leaves of the apta tree.