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
The country will celebrate Holi festival on March 9 but a unique 40-day-long Holi festivity started in Kullu after pulling the chariot of Lord Raghunath and people throwing gulal on each other on Thursday. The Holi celebrations in Kullu begin 40 days in advance on the occasion of Basant Panchami every year. Thousands of people thronged the Rath Maidan of Kullu to celebrate the occasion. The puja started from Raghunath temple and the idol of the deity was brought to the Rath Maidan in its palanquin. Throwing gulal at each other and chanting “Raghunath Ji Ki Jai”, the crowd then pulled the chariot to the Dussehra ground to perform the rituals. The puja started from Raghunath temple and the idol of the deity was brought to the Rath Maidan in its palanquin. Throwing gulal at each other and chanting “Raghunath Ji Ki Jai”, the crowd then pulled the chariot to the Dussehra ground to perform the rituals. Holi will be played at Raghunath temple for 40 days till March 10. The reunion of Lord Rama and Bharat remains the main attraction of the event while a person impersonating Lord Hanuman with Hanuman Sindoor applied to his entire body remains present at the occasion. People try to touch the Hanuman and also the rope to pull the chariot as it is considered auspicious. Rath yatra of Lord Raghunath during Basant Panchami at Kullu on January 30 Maheshwar Singh, chhadivardar (prime servant) of Lord Raghunath and scion of erstwhile Kullu state, said Holi and Basant Panchami are being celebrated in Kullu for decades now.“The festivity is now celebrated in a large scale. The ritual of rath-yatra on Basant Panchami was stopped for nearly 50 years due to unknown reasons. The ritual was restarted in 2009. The occasion is marked by applying colours
The country will celebrate Holi festival on March 9 but a unique 40-day-long Holi festivity started in Kullu after pulling the chariot of Lord Raghunath and people throwing gulal on each other on Thursday. The Holi celebrations in Kullu begin 40 days in advance on the occasion of Basant Panchami every year. Thousands of people
