Most of India celebrates Dussehra by burning giant statues. Kullu does the opposite. On the morning of October 20, while Delhi’s Ravana ash is still being cleared, over 200 village deities will arrive at Dhalpur Maidan in Kullu on wooden palanquins, each accompanied by its own drumming band and a trail of devotees who have walked down from every side valley in the district. That arrival is not the end of anything. It is Day 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kullu Dussehra 2026 runs from October 20 to October 26. Seven days. It was declared an International Festival in 1972, and the tradition traces back to the 17th century reign of Raja Jagat Singh, who established Lord Raghunath as the presiding deity of the valley after a sequence of events that the local legend ties to remorse over a Brahmin’s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The structural difference matters. Every other Dussehra in India marks the end of Navratri with a final-day celebration. Kullu Dussehra starts on Vijayadashami and runs an additional seven days. No other place in the country follows this format.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The festival breaks down into three distinct phases: the opening procession, the five-day fair, and the closing Lanka Dahan ceremony on the banks of the Beas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The centrepiece is the arrival of Lord Raghunath’s chariot from the Sultanpur temple, pulled by devotees through the town to Dhalpur Maidan. Alongside the main chariot, over 200 village deities from temples across the Kullu valley arrive on decorated wooden palanquins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each deity travels with its own entourage: a band of traditional drummers, a group of devotees, and the pujari from the home temple. The arrivals are staggered through the day, and the sequence has a hierarchy rooted in the valley’s temple politics. The arrival of Goddess Hadimba from Manali carries particular significance and traditionally happens early in the proceedings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The scale of this single-day event is what separates Kullu Dussehra from a standard festival gathering. The sight of dozens of palanquins moving simultaneously through the town, each with its own music, is the defining image of the festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once the deities are installed in their camps on the Dhalpur ground, the fair begins. Market stalls sell Kullu shawls, handicrafts, local produce and street food. Folk performances and cultural programming run on the stadium stage every evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fair days are less intense than Day 1 and Day 7. The ground is busy but not overwhelmed. Day 6 is Mohalla, a tradition where the deities visit one another’s camps in a ceremonial sequence that reflects the alliances and relationships between the valley’s temples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For travellers, the fair days are the most relaxed window. The procession crowds have thinned, and the market and evening programmes are accessible without the density of the first and last days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the final day, the procession leaves Dhalpur Maidan and moves to the banks of the Beas River. A symbolic Lanka Dahan ceremony marks the close. The deities then begin their return journeys to their respective temples, on foot, up every side valley. Some of the more distant temples take two or three days to walk back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This departure is itself a visual event. The palanquins heading up different valleys, each with their drumming bands, spread across the landscape as the festival dissolves back into daily life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dhalpur Maidan is the main ground in Kullu town, located near the banks of the Beas River. The ground is open access during Dussehra. No ticket is required. The chariot procession route runs through the town from Sultanpur to the maidan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kullu itself sits at roughly 1,200 metres elevation in the Beas Valley, about 40 km south of Manali and 10 km from Bhuntar airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n