Kullu Dussehra — what it is, what happens on each of the seven days, and how to be there

A festival that begins where the others end

In most of India the autumn festival ends on Vijayadashami. In Kullu that is the day it starts, and it runs for seven more. The reason is not a variation on the epic; it is a different event altogether. This week is the valley's village deities coming down from their own temples to attend Raghunath, the god who was installed in the 17th century and declared the ruler of the valley — and the whole district still keeps that appointment.

The ground it happens on is Dhalpur, at the south end of the town: grass and a cricket match for fifty-one weeks, and for one week the largest gathering in the state.

What actually happens

On the first day the image is brought down from the temple in the old quarter to the maidan, on a chariot pulled by ropes and by whoever has hold of them. The village deities are already arriving — each on a palanquin, each with its own drums, long horns and party from its own village — and they take their places around the ground. Through the week the deities stay, visits are paid between them, and the fair grows around the assembly: stalls, a wheel, a trade fair, performances in the evening. On the last day the chariot is taken to the river bank and the week closes.

Two things surprise most visitors. The first is how much of it is an assembly rather than a show — the deities are there for each other and for Raghunath, and the audience is incidental. The second is the noise: dozens of sets of drums and horns, each keeping its own village's time.

The town that week

Full. Every room within an hour of the town goes months ahead and the rates run above the usual ₹900–2,500 a night. The highway through the bazaar becomes a standstill, parking disappears, and the useful way to move is on foot. Buses still run, and the bus stand is the easiest way in and out — leave the car wherever you are sleeping.

How to see it well

• Arrive a day early. Walk the empty ground, see the Raghunath temple quiet, and understand what is about to leave it.
• Be at the maidan early on the first day for the chariot; the crowd forms long before anything moves.
• Spend the middle days among the deities rather than at the stalls — that is where the festival is.
• Keep one morning out of the town. The ridge at Bijli Mahadev is 15 km to the road-end at Chansari and an hour's climb, and it is the quietest place in the district that week.

Manners

Stand at the edge of a procession, not in it. Do not touch a palanquin, cross in front of one, or put a camera in a bearer's face. Ask before photographing people, and accept no for an answer. Shoes come off in any temple courtyard. The deities are the guests of honour and everyone else, including the state, is an attendant — visitors included.

If you cannot make the fair

The rest of the year the ground is empty and the temple is quiet, which is its own kind of visit: the one-day plan walks the town, its temple and the maidan in an afternoon, and the two-day plan adds the ridge. From up the valley, the Kullu day trip from Manali does the temple and the town in a day.

Plans that include this

All Kullu itineraries →

Day plan · First visittemples-heritage

One day in Kullu — the Raghunath temple, the bazaar, the ground at Dhalpur and the hill temple above the town

A day in Kullu town: the Raghunath temple at Sultanpur, the shawl bazaar, the Dhalpur fair ground and the carved hill temple at Bhekhli, with measured times.

Best Mar–Jun · Sep–Nov

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Day plan · walkersWalks & treks

Bijli Mahadev in a day from Kullu — the road to Chansari, the climb to the ridge and a late lunch in the bazaar

Bijli Mahadev from Kullu in a day: 15 km to the road-end at Chansari, a 2.8 km climb of about 96 minutes, an hour on the ridge and a late lunch in the town.

Best Mar–Jun · Sep–Nov

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1 night · 2 days · First visittemples-heritage

Two days in Kullu — the ridge temple on the first morning, the town, the river and the stone temple at Bajaura on the second

Two days in Kullu: the climb to Bijli Mahadev on the first morning, then Dhalpur, rafting at Pirdi and the stone temple at Bajaura, with measured road times.

Best Mar–Jun · Sep–Nov

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1 night · 2 days · FriendsAdventure

Two days on the Beas from Kullu — rafting at Pirdi, a night on the gravel at Raison and the confluence at Bhuntar

Two days on the Beas: a rafting run from Pirdi below Kullu, a night on the gravel bank at Raison and the Parvati confluence at Bhuntar, with prices and times.

Best Apr–Jun · Sep–Oct

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1 night · 2 days · Couplesslow-travel

The left bank in two days from Kullu — Raison on the river, the castle at Naggar and the waterfall above Jana

Two slow days on Kullu's left bank: the river at Raison, the castle at Naggar, and the waterfall and dhabas above Jana, with measured road times and prices.

Best Mar–Jun · Sep–Nov

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2 nights · 3 days · festivalfestivals

Three days at Kullu's Dussehra — the ground before it fills, the chariot on the first day, and the ridge on the morning after

Three days at Kullu's Dussehra: the maidan and temple before the fair starts, the chariot on the first day, and the climb to Bijli Mahadev on the morning after.

Best Oct

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