RAGHUNATHJEE OF SULTANPUR (KULLU) ( History Of Kullu Dussehra )

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 It was in July 1651 that the idol of Raghunathjee was brought from Ayodhya by one Damodar Dass, a brahmin of reputed piety and wisdom and installed it at Manikaran and then shifted to Sultanpur (Kullu). The then ruler Raja Jagat Singh invested the kingdom in the idol and himself became its regent. The story goes that Raja Jagat Singh wanted to exhort one Patha (about one kg) valuable pearls from Durga Datt, a brahmin of village Tipri situated in Parvati valley. Sensing that some deep conspiracy had been hatched by his enemies to eliminate him, Durga Datt preferred to perish himself alive with the members of his family by setting fire to his house rather submit to the whims and wishes of the Raja. The tragic end of Durga Datt, thereupon, agonised the Raja so much that he found himself in a state of a terrible curse. In order to expiate of his crime, the Raja was advised by state astrologers to send Damodar Dass to Ayodhya with a mission to steal the idol of Sri Raghunathjee and set it up in the palace as a presiding deity. 



The circumstances connected with the installation of Raghunathjee's idol gave rise to periodic celebrations. Since the idol was that of Shri Ramchandra, the automatic connection with the Dussehra was established. The village gods form the nucleus of social and community life in Kullu. Raja Jagat Singh under the influence of Bairagi Kishan Dass, who got Vaishnavism introduced in the valley and wanted the local faith to be subordinate to the creed, initiated the hill gods to get together to pay homage to Raghunathjee once a year around Dussehra. The church was already subordinate to the State, now theology was further harnessed to serve feudal ends. The temples housing the gods received various assignments of rent through land endowments. The income of each was shared by the inhabitants and management of village gods.


They would, therefore, not miss the profitable proposition of attending the annual Dussehra fair. Due to the location of Kullu on the trade routes connecting Central Asia and Tibet with the plains of Punjab, the festival occasioned holding of the celebrations for exchange and sale of goods. It roughly commenced from the last day of the Dussehra in the plains, incidentally affording time for the plainsmen to be here for the trade.The birth of Dussehra in Kullu lay in the royal fads and it nourished on religious, social and economic factors and ultimately came to be deeply established because of the inborn love of the hill-men for fun and frolic, displayed in community singing, dancing and rejoicing. Unlike the Dussehra celebrations in the plains to the surprise of outsiders, Kullu Dussehra has no "Ramayana re-told." It commences on the first day with the idol of Raghunathjee saddled in a gaily attired rath and escorted by the village gods mounted on colourful palanquins, pulled from its fixed place in Dhalpur maidan to another spot in the middle of the maidan by stout ropes. The local people regard pulling the ropes as sacred and auspicious. This forms a procession of a huge crowd. Thereafter, the days follow with the gods being invoked and paraded in the evenings and the people buying and selling. This continues for a week. The concluding day witnesses the rath being taken near the bank of the Beas in a procession by the village gods, where a pile of wood and grass is set on fire. This symbolises the burning of Lanka and is followed by the chosen animals being sacrificed. The rath is brought to its original place. Raghunathjee is taken out and carried to its temple at Sultanpur. The attending gods disperse, and the people move to their way homes. 






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