NEW DELHI — Every political culture has a cherished seasonal ritual.

In Iowa, it’s the pig roast. In Russia, political leaders strip to their skivvies and dunk themselves in icy ponds and rivers on Epiphany.

Indian politicians come forward every year on the Hindu festival of Dussehra to re-enact the slaying of a 10-headed demon, a climactic victory of good over evil depicted in a Hindu epic.

The demons that burned Tuesday all across India — in past years meant to represent social ills like corruption and pollution — were custom-made for a season of mounting tension with Pakistan. A demon towering over the Delhi neighborhood of Dwarka was green and wore a Pakistani flag. An effigy burned in east Delhi bore, among its 10 heads, the faces of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan and his army chief, Gen. Raheel Sharif.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India was more cautious in his symbolism, presiding over a ceremony in Uttar Pradesh that culminated in the burning of an effigy with the words “May terrorism be wiped out for good” scrawled across its chest. Posters at the site lauded Mr. Modi as an “avenger” for ordering military strikes on Pakistani territory, portraying him as a macho man in a Stetson hat and sunglasses.