Story Behind Kullu Dussehra
The beginning of Dussehra in Kullu dates back to the regime of Raja Jagat Sing who ruled Kullu from 1637 to 1672. There is a legend that Raja Jagat Singh of Kullu who had been informed that t bowl full of pearls was in the possession of Durga Dutt, a poor Brahmin of village Tipri. The Raja directed his courtiers to fetch the pearls from the Brahmin, was greatly harassed by the them. Finding the torture rather unbearable, he told them that the pearls would be delivered to the Raja on his return to the village from Manikaran where he was going. When the Raja arrived in the village, the Brahmin locked himself alongwith his family members and set fire to the house. Sitting by its side, he cut his flesh with a sharp blade at every leap of the fire and vowdily cursed the Raja for his unjurt demand by saying "Have the pearls, O' Raja". The entire family was reduced to ashes.
After a laps of sometimes it so happened that the Raja was haunted by the spirit of the innocent Brahmin family, stung by te qualms of the conscience, he felt every moment the painful and tearing pinch of the strings and arrows of the deadly sin committed by him. Under guilt conscious and hallucination he used to see crawling worms in place of rice and human blood in place of water in the tumbler. The Raja did whatever he could do but of no avail. The news of his illness spread throughout his kingdom and all possible means of curing his disease were exploered by his courtiers, prominent hakims, vaids, doctors and religious persons saints etc. But nothing could stop Raja's hallucinations. At last a Bairagi named Krishan Dutt (Pahari Baba) offered his counsel that no medicine can be effective to cure the Raja except the blessign of lord Rama. In this direction he further suggested that the Raja should take charanamrit of an idol of lord Rama. This idea struck sound in the mind of the Raja and further efforts were made to procure a holy idol from Ayodhya. His efforts succeeded in procuring a genuine idol from Ayodhya. For this work a disciple of Bairagi Krishan Dutt name Damodar Dass was selected and deputed for this purpose. Damodar Dass had attained miraculous power known as 'Gutka Sidhi'. Through this miraculous power he was able to procure the rare piece of Rama's idol alongwith Pujari from 'Tret Nath' Temple of Ayodhya in July 1651 AD which was installed in Raghunathjee's temple at Sultanpur Kullu by obersving all the rituals suggested by the learned priests of that time. It may be of interest to record here that a special class of priests were brought from Ayodhya to conduct the rituals and their descendants still continue to keep-up the tradition.
Raja Jagat Singh faithfully observed the suggestions of Bairagi Krishan Dutt and by and by, he showed signs of recovery from the dreaded disease. He was greatly influenced by the divine power of Rama, so much so that he addicated his throne to the will of Raghunathjee and became 'Chharibardar' of Raghunathjee. This incident had a great impact in his state and as a consequence thereof all the Devis and Devtas accepted the overall lordship of Raghunathjee. The Raja spent his order to all the 'Kardars' of all Gods and Goddesses of the state to asseble at Kullu on the festive occassion of Vijya Dashmi to first pay obeiance to Raghunathjee and then participate in the festivities thereafter.
On the first day when the Dussehra fair begins, the idol of Raghunth ji saddled in a gaily attired Rath is pulled from its fixed place in Dhalpur Maidan, to another spot across the maidan by big ropes by the local people. The village gods more than one hundred in number mounted in colorful plaquine attend this fair. There after for seven days the fair goes on. At night in Kala Kender international dance festival is held which is a stage of great cultural activities. Thousands of people witness the show in the open theater at Dhalpur. Dussehra is a well-organised fair that provides entertainment business opportunities, fun and frolics to all.
On the 6th day, the assembly of Devtas takes place. All the village gods attending the fair with their followers and band of musicinas participate in the assembly. It is an impressive and rare scene to witness. Devtas sitting together in colorful attires round the camp of Raghunathji. On the concluding day, the Rath is again pulled near to the bank of the river Beas, where a pile of thorn bushes is set on fire that symbolises the burning of Lanka. Some animals are sacrified and Rath is brought back in a procession to its original place. Raghunathji is carried back to his temple at Sultanpur. The attending gods disperse adn so the people. Kullu Dussehra is full of grandeur and festivities.
As Ravana was conquered on the 10th day, Dussehra is also celebrated as Vijay Dashmi, "Vijay" referring to victory and "Dashmi" stands for 10th day. Like other parts of India, people of Rajasthan also celebrate this festival with lots of passion and fervor. On Dussehra, people worship weapons while remembering to utilize them in a wise manner. People also worship Mother Goddess, the embodiment of 'Fight against Evil', during the preceding Navratris.
In some parts of Rajasthan, on Dussehra, there is a custom to exchange the leaves of the Apta tree. A legend is associated with this custom. There was once a king named Raghu, who was Sri Rama's ancestor. King Raghu was very generous. After a grand 'Yagna' (Prayer), the king distributed all his riches among the poor.
When Raghu had nothing more to give, it happened that a poor boy came to him and asked for alms. Finding no other way, Raghu attacked Kuber, the renowned God of Wealth. As wealth in the form of gold rained on earth, a quantity of it dropped on the Apta tree. Since then, the custom to exchange the leaves of Apta tree on Vijay Dashmi has been observed.
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