Congregation of Deities: All You Need to Know About Kullu Dussehra
The historical backdrop of Kullu Dussehra dates back to the 17th Century. According to legends, Kullu was ruled by a king named Raja Jagat Singh. It is said that he got the rumor of a person owning beautiful white pearls, named Durga Dutt. He immediately got the urge of owning the pearls.
Durga Dutt tried his best to sway the King that he didn’t have any pearls, rather his treasure was his knowledge that was priceless. However, all his pleas went in vain. He finally had to set himself on fire along with his family and curse the Raja “Whenever you eat, your rice will appear as worms, and water will appear as blood”.
Understanding the severity of the situation, the Raja took the advice of a Brahmin that only after getting a deity of Lord Raghunath from Ayodhya can end the curse. While the Brahmin was stealing the deity from Ayodhya, a search party discovered his whereabouts.
The deity was destined to reach Kullu and all efforts of Ayodhya people to recover the deity were in vain. Finally, the idol of Raghunathji was installed which was followed by months of sleepless nights of Raja Jagat Singh praying to get rid of his curse.
At last he succeeded to lift off the curse and announced the annual Dussehra celebration which is continuing till date. The celebrations became a symbol of happiness and abundance in the state with music, dance, colorful decorations and a mesmerizing ambience.
The festival is truly unique. It still continues to attract the tourists till date. The devotees in Kullu carry out a procession wherein they carry the idols of different Gods from their home on their heads to meet Lord Raghunath in the temple. Hundreds of Devtas are brought to the temple ground on the day of Dussehra.
In the morning all the palkis of Devatas are carried out by the devotees and proceed with the band of their traditional musicians towards the temple of Raghunathji. On behalf of the temple, they are offered a Phagu. Then they come to the Praul (the main gate of Tharah Kardu in the palace).
By afternoon, all the rites to be performed before Raghunathji are completed. On the arrival of the Raja the statues of Raghunathji and Sita are adorned with flowers and beautiful clothes and are placed in a palanquin.
On the arrival of the statues of Rama and Sita they are placed in the rath. Finally, the senior most representative of the royal family touches the rope attached with the rath. As the devotees start chanting the slogans “Jai Siya Ram, Jai Hanuman’’ and start pulling the rath.
Kullu Dussehra is celebrated in the whole district with great zeal. Earlier the followers of Devi-Devtas used to dance the whole night in front of their tents during Dussehra. Men and women dancers used to take part in Lalhri Dance till the next morning.
Now as most of the villages are connected by roads, the devotees return to their homes in the evening, as a result Lalhri Dance has been discontinued. Now only the central members associated with Devi-Devtas like Kardar, Pujari, Gur, Dhami, Dhounsi etc. stay in the tents with Devi-Devtas.
The Lalhri Dance happens in the Chanani of Raja on the Muhalla night. The sound of Dhol, Nagara, Shehnai, Dhouns, Bhana and Ransingas will make you feel that you’re at the Devlok and you’d want to dance away with the rhythms of music.
Apart from its magnificence and enormous religious significance, the festival also made it to the Guinness Book of World Records in 2016 for bringing together over 9000 dancers under the same platform.
A modern take on Himachali traditional fashion– You’ll be spellbound to see how Himachali fashion is served in such modern vision. A fashion competition of traditional Himachali attire is held. There are certain rules to this. Only women participate in the competition.
The competition has two rounds. One is based on “Bridal” dress of Himachal Pradesh while the other will be “Fusion” where participants can present any uniqueness by mixing traditional/casual Indian and western attire.
While the platform showcases Kullu Valley’s cultural diversity, the festival has been hosting personalities from International dance communities to endorse the uniqueness of the festival. The weeklong colorful musical is held at Lal Chandra Prarthi Kala Kendra.