Winter Carnival Manali 2024 Start Date: January 02, 2024 End Date: January 06, 2024 Address: Manali, Himachal Pradesh, India Influence: National Level Event Purpose: To boost winter tourism Organizers: DC Kullu is chairman and SDM Manali is vice-chairman with both government and non-government members Timing: Opening at 7 AM on 2nd January. Cultural and other programmes will be held between 11 AM and 10 PM daily Contact Details: 01902-254100 (O) 254200 (R) (Or check the official website of the Manali Winter Carnival) Main attractions of winter carnival Cultural tableaus Local cuisines Winter sports (Skiing, Snowboarding competitions etc) Winter Queen beauty pageant Voice of Carnival Folk dances Western dances Street plays Fashion shows Baby shows Magic shows Local games Games for tourists Many more Updated on January 7, 2024 Manali's Nisha Thakur crowned Winter Queen 2024 Nisha Thakur from Manali was crowned Winter Queen 2024 during five-day-long National Winter Carnival that concluded on January 6. The final round of the Winter Queen beauty pageant concluded at 12am midnight where Nisha won the contest. Kohinoor from Shimla was chosen first runner up while Bhavya Pandit from Manali was declared second runner up. 27 beauties from different states were chosen for the semi-final round. Updated on January 6, 2023 Aarzoo Rana, 22, from Janjehli in Himachal’s Mandi district, was crowned Winter Queen 2023 on Friday late at night. Nitika from Shimla and Smriti from Kullu were crowned first and second runner-ups respectively. More details here. Tourists enjoy Kullu folk dance performed by hundreds of women Updated on January 5, 2023 Kullu folk dance performed by hundreds of women and fashion shows by women of all age groups wearing traditional clothes remained the main attraction for tourists in the Winter Carnival being celebrated here from January 2 to 6. Women, wearing traditional attire and
Winter Carnival Manali 2024 Start Date: January 02, 2024 End Date: January 06, 2024 Address: Manali, Himachal Pradesh, India Influence: National Level Event Purpose: To boost winter tourism Organizers: DC Kullu is chairman and SDM Manali is vice-chairman with both government and non-government members Timing: Opening at 7 AM on 2nd January. Cultural and other
First tribal festival “Margul Utsav” concludes in Lahaul Updated on May 20, 2022 A first-ever colourful tribal festival “Margul Utsav” was held at Udaipur in Himachal’s Lahaul-Spiti district with participation of cultural troops and other artists from across the state. Margul Utsav was organised by the Lahaul-Spiti administration in association with the department of tourism with the aim to promote cultural tourism in the valley. The festival, with participation from all the tribal regions of the state including Lahaul, Spiti, Pangi, Bharmaur and Kinnaur, was organised from May 18 to 20. The cultural troops presented folk dances, folk music, dresses, ornaments and other folk arts. Local cuisines were served while competitions of traditional games like chooh gumza, thippu, chholo, bangtahar and langten were also held. Participation of both men and women was ensured. A large number of tourists visited Udaipur to witness the unique culture of Himachal. The festival was inaugurated and concluded by tribal development minister Ram Lal Markanda. Lahaul-Spiti deputy commissioner Neeraj Kumar said Margul festival will now be made an annual state-level event in Lahaul valley to promote tribal culture, arts, games, local products, dresses, cuisines and fairs. "A large number of tourists are visiting Lahaul but they mostly visit the areas close to Atal tunnel or along Manali-Leh highway. Very few tourists visit Udaipur, Pattan and Miyar valley which are extremely beautiful and full of rich culture. Margul festival is expected to promote this part of the state also," he said. Tug-of-war, knitting competition,s and many such unique events for women were centre of attraction besides cultural tableaus, craft exhibitions, and traditional dress competitions. Lajawab Lahaul, a media campaign to promote tourism in the valley was also launched. In an effort to woo the tourists to visit Lahaul in all seasons, short movies filmed in Lahaul in
First tribal festival “Margul Utsav” concludes in Lahaul Updated on May 20, 2022 A first-ever colourful tribal festival “Margul Utsav” was held at Udaipur in Himachal’s Lahaul-Spiti district with participation of cultural troops and other artists from across the state. Margul Utsav was organised by the Lahaul-Spiti administration in association with the department of tourism
Lahaul Snow Festival 2022 Start Date: January 13, 2022 End Date: March 31, 2022 (tentative) Address: Lahaul and Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, India Main attractions: Traditional (winter) festivals, Local culture, Local cuisines, Lahaul tribal dresses, Snow Craft, Snow Queen contest, Winter and traditional sports, Folk Dance, Folk Music, and many more Influence: Within Lahaul Valley Venue: All villages of Lahaul with centre at Keylong and Udaipur First Event: 2021 (25 Jan to 31 March) Purpose: To boost winter tourism and cultural tourism besides preserving and revival of long-forgotten local traditions. Organizers: DC Lahaul Spiti, Local MLA, SDMs, all government officials and local stakeholders with support from all the residents. Funding: With a mutual contribution by residents under the guidance of local administration. Achievement: Won SKOCH Silver Award in governance category on March 20, 2021. Timing: Opening at 10 AM on 13th January at Udaipur, and cultural and other programmes will continue all days daily. How to reach Lahaul: Delhi/Chandigarh > Manali > Atal Tunnel > Lahaul How to reach Spiti: Delhi/Chandigarh > Shimla/Karsog >Rampur > Kinnaur > Spiti Two month-long Snow Festival from 13 January 2022 Updated on December 30, 2021 With an aim to promote winter tourism, tribal culture, local festivals, and traditions, the two-month-long snow festival will start in Himachal’s Lahaul-Spiti district from January 13, 2022. The first snow festival was organised from January 25 to March 31 last winter season when opening of the Atal tunnel had provided winter access to the snow-blanketed valley. After the festival remained successful, the second winter festival will start from Udaipur after worship at Trilokinath temple by lamas and Brahmins. The festival, which will be celebrated in snow-covered valley at different places for over two months, will showcase Lahauli festivals, local culture, cuisines, dresses, folk songs and dances, winter sports and many
Lahaul Snow Festival 2022 Start Date: January 13, 2022 End Date: March 31, 2022 (tentative) Address: Lahaul and Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, India Main attractions: Traditional (winter) festivals, Local culture, Local cuisines, Lahaul tribal dresses, Snow Craft, Snow Queen contest, Winter and traditional sports, Folk Dance, Folk Music, and many more Influence: Within Lahaul Valley Venue:
While Dussehra ended in rest parts of the country on Vijayadashmi, the weeklong Dussehra festivities of Kullu started on Sunday with the rath yatra of the Lord Raghunath in presence of just eight deities and a limited number of people. While Kullu Dussehra Committee had sent invitations to 331 deities and thousands of people were present in the rath yatra last year, a limited number of people were present in the rath yatra along with eight deities this year. The deities first paid obeisance to the Lord Raghunath, presiding deity of the festivity and then performed the rituals. The rituals of the festivities start from the royal palace where royal family dressed in traditional attire performs the rituals. Rituals started after arrival of the palanquin of Devi Hidimba. The idol of the Lord Raghunath is then brought to Rath ground for rath yatra. Not all people were allowed to pull the chariot. Administration had finalised 200 devotees for this purpose. All the devotees pulling chariot and those in procession of the deities had to undergo Covid-19 test. The chariot was pulled from Rath ground to the middle of the Dhalpur ground where it will stay for six days. The valley was echoing with the divine music of drums and trumpets. However, a limited number of musicians were allowed with each procession of the deity. On seventh day the chariot will be wheeled to the bank of Beas river to perform final rituals and then it will be brought back to Rath ground. The deities will camp at historic Dhalpur ground till October 31. Covid-19 pandemic forced administration not to invite over 300 deities of the valley this year which otherwise had caused huge crowd. Palanquins of only seven deities were allowed to come to Dussehra venue to perform the major
While Dussehra ended in rest parts of the country on Vijayadashmi, the weeklong Dussehra festivities of Kullu started on Sunday with the rath yatra of the Lord Raghunath in presence of just eight deities and a limited number of people. While Kullu Dussehra Committee had sent invitations to 331 deities and thousands of people were
MANALI: Disappointed with almost no or very less snowfall in last two years, people of Kullu have started taking shelter of deities for good snowfall. Residents of Khakhnal, Gojra and Jagatsukh villages on Wednesday visited the Naag Devta temple situated far above the village and worshipped him in effort to please him. According to Hindus, Takshak Naag has control on the rain and snow. Whenever they suffer vagaries of weather, they storm to his shelter and pray for rain. Priest of the temple Nitin Sharma said, “The area has upto four feet of snow. The villagers had prayed the deity on Saturday for good snow and had promised to visit the temple on Sunday. Surprisingly, we had overnight snowfall. Though the snow was very less but it came at a time when there was no possibility of snowfall. This was the sign that deity has listened to our prayers. As we could not visit temple on Sunday due to snowfall, we went on Wednesday. We shall now get heavy snowfall very soon.” The area witnessed many spells of snowfall but its still inadequate as snowfall is not lasting more than few hours. The quality of snow too is very poor which is melting in a day. The higher regions have average snow but the major apple belts have not received snow which is mandatory for good crop. Good snowfall is also required so that there is no shortage of drinking water in summer months. The people of Manikaran valley also prayed for snowfall at Pini village on Tuesday where Chamunda Devi, Narayan Devta and Bhagasidh Mata had come to perform a ritual. Deities through their shamans said the valley will get very heavy snowfall in few days. Whenever Mother Nature gets upset in winters and there is no or very
MANALI: Disappointed with almost no or very less snowfall in last two years, people of Kullu have started taking shelter of deities for good snowfall. Residents of Khakhnal, Gojra and Jagatsukh villages on Wednesday visited the Naag Devta temple situated far above the village and worshipped him in effort to please him. According to Hindus,
MANALI: With over 125 tableaux and cultural troops from Himachal and other states showcasing their culture by taking out processions, the eighth National Winter Carnival 2019 that will be celebrated for five days kicked started here on Wednesday. The official beginning of the carnival took place after worshipping the Hidimba Devi of Manali. The chief minister Jai Ram Thakur then flagged off the cultural processions. All the processions were based on a theme based on social messages. Thousands of people, including tourists, making queues on both sides of the road enjoyed it a lot. Nearly 3,000 students and thousands of residents sang national song on the Mall Road. While national song was being sung, a helicopter showered flowers on people from the sky. The town experienced mild snowfall and it was raining for all the day. Despite extreme cold weather, huge crowd thronged the town to see carnival parade. Besides dozens of teams from Himachal, states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, MP, Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh are also participating in different events. “Kullu has always been leading district in preservation of culture and traditions, all thanks to its people especially women,” chief minister Jai Ram Thakur said. He added that he was mesmerized to see such a crowd despite spine-chilling cold. “I am feeling happy to announce Rs 8,000 to each of the 120 mahila mandals for preservation of culture and their time given to the carnival. As Manali remains abuzz with tourists round the year, a multi-purpose huge indoor auditorium would be built in Manali.” The tourists will get to buy local products and eat local cuisines here for five days. While all the competitions will held at Manu Rangshala, an amphitheatre, some of the performances like folk dance and folk music would be played in the market to entertain
MANALI: With over 125 tableaux and cultural troops from Himachal and other states showcasing their culture by taking out processions, the eighth National Winter Carnival 2019 that will be celebrated for five days kicked started here on Wednesday. The official beginning of the carnival took place after worshipping the Hidimba Devi of Manali. The chief
KULLU: In an attempt to spread message of rivers and environment protection, Kullu administration on Tuesday late evening organized “maha aarti” of Beas (Vipasha) river in the presence of thousands of people. The bank of Beas river echoed with vedic mantras and religious folk music and illuminated with thousands of earthen lamps. The mantras were chanted by 121 Brahmins and music was played by over 200 musicians. The aarti started at 5:30pm after sacrificing a coconut and it ended at about 7pm after releasing of diyas into the flowing waters of Beas. The ceremony was organized by Kullu administration at Mohal village of Kullu with help of Devi Devta Pujari Sangh, Kardar Sangh, Bajantri Sangh and many other organizations. The purpose of the aarti is to sensitize people to protect holy Beas river and the environment. Beas, earlier known as Vipasha river, was so pure until few decades back when people used to drink its water. As water from many holy places meet with Beas, it was considered most auspicious river of Himachal where residents used to take holy dip. Now, very few people and palanquins of some deities take holy dip in the Beas. People are throwing garbage by its banks and its water has turned gray. “Hopefully Beas will get its sanctity and purity back. The event has been successful and large number of residents took part in it. Everything used in the ceremony was eco-friendly. We used earthen and wheat flour diyas that were released in the water. The plates were made of leaves. Such aarti is generally held by the bank of Ganga at Haridwar and Banaras. Beas is equally important river and I am sure people will cooperate with us in our mission to protect water and environment,” Kullu deputy commissioner Yunus said. The religious
KULLU: In an attempt to spread message of rivers and environment protection, Kullu administration on Tuesday late evening organized “maha aarti” of Beas (Vipasha) river in the presence of thousands of people. The bank of Beas river echoed with vedic mantras and religious folk music and illuminated with thousands of earthen lamps. The mantras were
MANALI: Aimed to spread message of environment protection, Kullu administration will organize “Beas Maha Arti” in presence of 121 priests, 200 folk musicians and thousands of other people on January 1. The event will be held at Nature Park in Mohal village of Kullu and chief minister Jai Ram Thakur would be present at the occasion. This will also be an attraction for tourists visiting Kullu-Manali. The ceremony, first of its kind in Himachal, is being organized by district administration with help of Devi Devta Pujari Sangh, Kardar Sangh, Bajantri Sangh and many other organizations and departments of Kullu. The administration has invited all the people of state to witness this occasion on the first day of 2019. The purpose of puja of holy Beas river is to spread message of protection of rivers and environment from pollution. Kullu deputy commissioner Yunus on Thursday hold a meeting with representatives of different organizations and government departments to review the preparations for the maha arti. “All arrangements are being made by the bank of Beas river at Mohal. The maha arti will start in the evening at about 5pm. 121 Brahmins, more than 200 folk musicians, kardars (caretakers of temples) and thousands of people will take part in the auspicious occasion,” he said. The DC said use of plastic, polythene or things made of non-biodegradable products would be strictly prohibited. “Diyas of clay or flour and plates of leaves would be used for arti and would be made available on the spot. Interested people can bring diyas with them too. Police, home guards and officials of transport department have been directed to ensure law and order, traffic management, parking facility and disaster management,” he added.
MANALI: Aimed to spread message of environment protection, Kullu administration will organize “Beas Maha Arti” in presence of 121 priests, 200 folk musicians and thousands of other people on January 1. The event will be held at Nature Park in Mohal village of Kullu and chief minister Jai Ram Thakur would be present at the
Undeterred by calamity of Uttarakhand that killed hundreds of devotees, thousands of lord Shiva devotees from across the country are set to prove that no calamity can shake their faith in god by joining the toughest yatra to 17,000 feet high Shrikhand Mahadev from July 15. Shrikhand MahadevLingam Given the increasing number of pilgrims to Shrikhand yatra, district administration and organizing committee of yatra are going to hold a meeting to chalk out the plan for safety, security and convenience of expected thousands of people on Tuesday. The pilgrimage to Shrikhand Mahadev starts from Rampur (Shimla) and Nirmand (Kullu) and is one of the toughest yatras of the world. Unlike the ice-lingam of Amarnath, the miraculous 72 feet tall Shiva lingam of Shrikhand, which has cracks in it, is famous for not allowing snow to accumulate on it despite 30 to 40 feet high snow in its surroundings. According to members of Shrikhand Seva Mandal, number of pilgrims is going to increase by many numbers as they are getting thousands of phone calls from across the country. “Most of the phone calls are from devotees who could not visit dhams in Uttarakhand. And now they want to get virtue of Shiva from this yatra. Most of the pilgrims are from Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and West Bengal, besides Himachal Pradesh,” president of Shrikhand Seva Mandal, Govind Sharma, said. Shrikhand yatra continues for one month from July 15 in the month of Shravan. Devotees can reach up to Jaon village of Nirmand by road and then starts about 35km-long on foot one side yatra. The both side yatra generally takes four days. Administration is busy in repairing the Rampur-Jaon road and arranging for parking facilities to accommodate hundreds of vehicles. For safety reasons, all the pilgrims joining yatra shall have to
Undeterred by calamity of Uttarakhand that killed hundreds of devotees, thousands of lord Shiva devotees from across the country are set to prove that no calamity can shake their faith in god by joining the toughest yatra to 17,000 feet high Shrikhand Mahadev from July 15. Shrikhand MahadevLingam Given the increasing number of pilgrims to
The tourist town of Manali, along with surrounding villages, is celebrating the two-day-long grand birthday of goddess Hadimba (Hidimba) as cultural festival in the courtyard of Hadimba temple at Dhungri, 2km from here. Palanquins of over a dozen deities would be participating in the festival to pay obeisance to the Goddess. All the road links to temple remained jammed with devotees and tourists who thronged here to join the divine festival. The colourful palanquins of deities expressed their happiness with ‘dance of pleasure’ which is the main attraction of this occasion. Folk dances by local youth attracted attention of the tourists. “The festival which started on Wednesday would be celebrated for two days. More deities would converge here to pay their obeisance on Thursday,” priest of the temple, Rohit Sharma, said, adding that Hadimba has lakhs of followers which gives birth to this grand occasion. Manali is the only place where Hadimba can be found in lingam, footprints and idol forms. Most of her idols found here are with mustache. Know Ladakh @ Discover Leh Ladakh
The tourist town of Manali, along with surrounding villages, is celebrating the two-day-long grand birthday of goddess Hadimba (Hidimba) as cultural festival in the courtyard of Hadimba temple at Dhungri, 2km from here. Palanquins of over a dozen deities would be participating in the festival to pay obeisance to the Goddess. All the road links
