Delighted to attend Kullu Dussehra celebrations: PM Modi
Narendra Modi is the first prime minister to take part in the Kullu Dussehra celebrations, a tradition which traces its origin to the mid-17th century
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday attended the historic Dussehra festival of Kullu in Himachal Pradesh.
He is the first prime minister to take part in the Kullu Dussehra celebrations, a tradition which traces its origin to the mid-17th century.
Accompanied by Himachal governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar and chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, PM Modi during his 45-minute stay at Dhalpur ground paid obeisance to Lord Raghunath, the chief deity of Kullu, and sought blessings.
People cheered and jostled to capture the moment when the PM walked up to the chariot of Lord Raghunath.
Modi became witness to the ‘rath yatra’ of Lord Raghunath with nearly 300 deities of Kullu and nearby areas of Mandi district attending the festival.
The descendants of erstwhile ruler of Rupi (Kullu) valley, along with the head of royal family Maheshwar Singh, who is also the ‘Charibardar’ of Lord Raghunath, led the ‘rath yatra’ to commence the week-day long Dussehra celebrations.
The PM also greeted the people who responded with loud cheers to their beloved leader.
Earlier, speaking at Bilaspur rally, Modi said that he was fortunate and delighted to attend the Kullu Dussehra after a long time.
PM Modi had attended the Kullu Dussehra way back in the late 90s when he was the in-charge of Himachal BJP.
The grand festival
Dussehra of Kullu is unique and differs from festival in other parts of the country where it is celebrated by burning effigies of Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Meghnad.
Ras Leela, a dance form associated with Lord Krishna and Gopis, and entertaining plays of Chandravali are performed here.
The festival is also a congregation of about 300 deities of Kullu district.
The tradition started during the regime of Raja Jagat Singh in the mid-17th century.
The legend says that the king forcefully tried to take away a bowl full of magical pearls from the possession of a poor Brahmin, who immolated himself and cursed Jagat Singh.
To get rid of the curse, the king, on the counsel of a hermit, procured the rare idol of Lord Rama from Ayodhya in July 1651 AD which was installed in Raghunath temple at Sultanpur. As he recovered, Jagat Singh abdicated his throne to the will of Lord Raghunath and became his ‘Charibardar’ while all deities also accepted the overall lordship of Lord Raghunath. Since then, all the deities of the region assemble at Kullu on Dussehra and pay obeisance to the chief deity.
The festival presents a great spectacle, when the deities in their colourful palanquins arrive at Raghunath temple and take part in a procession.