Kullu — the district town, its temples and the valley's week of gods

Itineraries you can copy

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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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Kullu is the district town of the valley that carries its name, 1,279 m up the Beas and 11 km above the airport at Bhuntar. Most people pass through it on the way to Manali, 40 km and about 49 minutes further up the river, and that is the mistake this guide is written against. The town holds the valley's ruling deity at the Raghunath temple, the ridge temple at Bijli Mahadev above it, the ground at Dhalpur where the whole valley gathers for a week each October, and the looms that made the Kullu shawl.

This guide is built from the data we keep for every place in the valley — road minutes measured on the real road network, how long people spend at each stop, what a walk climbs — and from the stays and cafés that list on HimLocal. Every itinerary below is copyable into your own trip planner and editable there.

What the town is, and is not

Kullu is a working district headquarters: a long bazaar along the highway, the offices, the banks and the buses that leave for every side valley. The old quarter of Sultanpur sits above the road with the Raghunath temple in it, and the Dhalpur ground lies at the south end, empty for most of the year and the centre of the state's largest fair for one week of it. The river runs the length of the town, wide and grey with snowmelt in summer.

It is not a resort, and it is not trying to be. There is no mall road of cafés, no ropeway and no snow point. What it has is the valley's religious centre and a ridge walk to one of the best-known temples in the Himalayas. It also has a rafting stretch at Pirdi four kilometres away, and a position that puts Naggar, Jana, Bajaura and the Parvati valley inside a day.

Where to stay

• The bazaar and Akhara Bazaar — hotels along the highway and the older lanes behind it, walking distance from the temple and the bus stand. Convenient, noisy, and the cheapest beds in the valley.
• Dhalpur — around the maidan at the south end, five minutes from the bazaar. The quieter side of town, and the middle of everything during the fair, when every room for miles is taken.
• Raison and the river bank — 15 km and 20 minutes up the valley towards Manali, where the camps sit on the gravel by the water. For a night on the river rather than in a town.
• Naggar, on the left bank — 23 km and 36 minutes, a hillside of orchards under the castle. A different valley altogether; see the Manali guide for it.
• Bhuntar — 13 km and 19 minutes south at the airport and the Parvati turning. Worth a night only for an early flight or a first bus up the Parvati.

When to go (and what each month is like)

The numbers below are India Meteorological Department normals for Bhuntar, the district's airport station 11 km down the river, read from the climate table on Wikipedia. Kullu sits a little higher and runs a degree or so cooler; the ridge at Bijli Mahadev is another world, and cold whenever the town is warm.

• March–April — days 22.7–27.3 °C at Bhuntar, nights 6.8–9.8 °C. Clear, green and cheap; the fruit blossom is on the slopes, and the Bijli Mahadev walk is at its best before the heat.
• May–June — days 31.3–32.9 °C, the warmest months and the ones when the highway fills with cars heading up the valley. Start the ridge walk early; the river is high with snowmelt and rafting runs hard and fast.
• July–September — the monsoon: 135.6 mm of rain in July and 129.4 mm in August. Slides close the highway in spells, the Beas runs brown, rafting stops when the water is up, and the valley is at its greenest and emptiest.
• October–November — the clearest skies of the year; days 22.9–27.9 °C, nights 4.9–10.1 °C. Dussehra falls in this window, the walking is perfect, and the rooms are the hardest to get of any week.
• December–February — days 16.1–18.3 °C, nights near 1.5 °C. Snow sits on the ridges and comes down to the town only occasionally; the temples are empty, the fair ground is bare, and the valley belongs to the people who live in it.

How to reach

• By air — Kullu–Manali Airport at Bhuntar is 11 km and about 17 minutes from the town by taxi. Flights are few, small and weather-dependent, and cancel in the monsoon and in fog.
• By road from Chandigarh — 225 km; the routing model gives a little over four hours of driving, slow through Mandi and the Pandoh gorge.
• By road from Shimla — 200 km and about 325 minutes over the hill roads through Narkanda, or longer by bus.
• By rail — the nearest railhead is Joginder Nagar, 124 km and about 207 minutes by road; most people take a train to Chandigarh and a bus from there.
• From Manali — 40 km and about 49 minutes down the Beas; buses run through the day.
• From Mandi — 69 km and about 98 minutes up the gorge.
• From Kasol — 39 km and about 79 minutes down the Parvati and up the Beas.

The temples, and the week the valley comes down

The Raghunath temple in Sultanpur holds the image that has been the valley's ruling deity since the 17th century, when the king of the day installed it as an act of penance and gave the valley to the god. Everything else follows from that: the Dussehra here begins on Vijayadashami, when the rest of India finishes, and runs seven days while the deities of the valley's villages are carried down to Dhalpur to attend the god.

Bijli Mahadev stands at about 2,460 m on the ridge across the river, reached by road to Chansari — 15 km and 28 minutes — and an hour's climb on foot from there. The temple at Bhekhli sits on the hill directly above the town, carved in wood and stone, with the valley and the airport laid out below. South on the highway, the stone temple at Bajaura is 15 km and 21 minutes away and older than anything standing in the town.

The river, the looms and the small print

Rafting runs on the Beas from Pirdi, 4 km and 7 minutes below the town, in the months when the water allows it; operators stop when the river is in flood, and that is their call, not a schedule. The Kullu shawl is woven in the valley on handlooms, sold in the town's showrooms and along the highway, and the price follows the wool — sheep wool, angora, pashmina — rather than the pattern. Prices below are typical local rates as bands with the date we checked; they are not quotes, and nobody here takes a booking on our behalf.

Places worth the drive

Pandoh and the Mata Baglamukhi ropeway

The Mata Baglamukhi ropeway crosses the Pandoh reservoir on the Manali highway to the temple at Bakhli. What it is, when it opened, and why it is worth a stop.

Raison

Raison sits on the Beas 15 km above Kullu, where the river runs wide over gravel and the camps stand on the bank: what a night costs, and what there is to do.

Pirdi

Pirdi is the rafting put-in on the Beas, 4 km and 7 minutes below Kullu: what a run costs, when the river runs and when the operators stop, and where to sleep.

Kullu town

Kullu at 1,279 m is the valley's district town: the Raghunath temple, the bazaar, the Dhalpur ground and the buses for every side valley. What it is worth.

The temple at Bhekhli

The temple at Bhekhli sits on the hill directly above Kullu: carved deodar and stone, a short side road and a walk, and the whole valley laid out below it.

Dhalpur Maidan

Dhalpur is the open ground at the south end of Kullu: empty grass for most of the year, and the site of the state's largest fair for seven days each October.

Chansari

Chansari is where the ridge road from Kullu ends and the walk to Bijli Mahadev begins: 15 km and 28 minutes from the town, then 2.8 km of climbing on foot.

Bijli Mahadev

Bijli Mahadev stands at about 2,460 m on the ridge above Kullu: drive 15 km to Chansari, then climb 2.8 km — about 96 minutes up — to the shrine and its staff.

Bhuntar

Bhuntar is where the Parvati joins the Beas and where the valley's airport sits: 11 km below Kullu, the turning for Kasol, and what to expect of the flights.

The stone temple at Bajaura

The stone temple at Bajaura stands off the highway 15 km below Kullu: carved outer faces, a lingam inside, and the oldest building on the valley floor.

Raghunath Temple, Kullu

The Raghunath temple above Kullu's bazaar holds the deity every village comes to at Dussehra, installed by Raja Jagat Singh in the 1600s. 49 min from Manali.

On the map

Open the Kullu map →

The places a Kullu day reaches, with the road time from town. Each opens on the map with its plans and pages beside it.

Bhrigu Lake

lake · 85 min by road

Bijli Mahadev Temple

temple · 28 min by road

Hadimba Devi Temple

temple · 53 min by road

Kasol

town · 79 min by road

Manikaran

town · 86 min by road

Manu Temple

temple · 54 min by road

Naggar

town · 36 min by road

Naggar Castle

fort · 36 min by road

Old Manali

area · 53 min by road

Solang

town · 68 min by road

Upper Jogini Falls

waterfall · 55 min by road

Vashisht Temple

temple · 53 min by road

Before you go

All articles →

The Kullu shawl — what the patterns mean, what the wool costs, and how to buy one in the valley

What makes a Kullu shawl: the geometric border, the wool it is woven in, what each kind costs in the valley as of September 2026, and how to tell a handloom.

The temples of the Kullu valley — stone, wood and a god who rules a district

The Kullu valley's temples in one place: Raghunath in the town, the stone temple at Bajaura, the ridge shrine at Bijli Mahadev and the carved wood at Bhekhli.

Kullu or Manali — which one to sleep in, and what each is actually good at

Kullu and Manali are 40 km apart on one river and do different jobs: which suits temples, walks, budget, the airport and a first visit, with measured times.

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

Kullu's Dussehra starts when the rest of India's ends and runs seven days at Dhalpur: what happens, how the town works that week, where to stay and the manners.

How to reach Kullu — the airport at Bhuntar, the buses, and the road up the valley

Reaching Kullu: the airport at Bhuntar 11 km away, buses from Chandigarh, Delhi and Manali, the railhead at Joginder Nagar, and which option is worth taking.