For India’s Mars Orbiter Mission, ISRO’s larger GSLV rocket was not available. “The GSLV failed twice in 2010 and still had issues with its cryogenic engine.” ISRO launched the spacecraft on the smaller PSLV instead. The PSLV could not send it directly toward Mars.
So the spacecraft stayed in orbit around Earth and fired its engine six times to raise its orbit. At the end of November 2013 it left Earth’s orbit for Mars.