300 deities arrive for Dasehra fest, atmosphere turns divine

The atmosphere at the historic Dhalpur ground has become divine with the arrival of over 300 deities in the Dev Mahakumbh, Kullu Dasehra festival. The residents and devotees are paying obeisance at the camp temples of Lord Raghunath and other deities at Dhalpur. The deities were also visiting each other’s camp temples and various rituals were being performed. These deities will stay in their temporary camp temples till the conclusion of the festival on October 19.

Foreign and domestic tourists were overwhelmed to witness the rituals and traditions during the mega event. The visitors were capturing various moments during the festival in their cameras. Cadrick and Sophia, tourists from France who came for the Dasehra festival, said their experience was remarkable. Cadrick said that he has seen such a unique sight for the first time in his life. Sophia said, “It is amazing to see the deity culture and the people associated with it.”

Hundreds of spectators danced to the songs of Punjabi singer Kulwinder Billa during the second cultural evening at the open air auditorium Kala Kendra yesterday. The evening started with a scintillating performance by police and Home Guard bands. Artistes from all over the state entertained the audience with solo songs, solo dance, group dance and classical dance.

The cultural team of Kullu attired in traditional Kullvi costumes gave an attractive performance of Kullvi Nati amidst melodious sound of traditional musical instruments. Artistes of Haryana performed folk dance and Firdaus Band mesmerised the spectators. Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania attended the cultural evening as the chief guest.

However, the cultural evening was not able to attract a large number of viewers. A local Kuldeep lamented that the standard of artistes being invited for the festival was not up to the mark. He alleged, “Earlier performers with international fame used to come but now regional artistes are being invited for the festivities. Due to this, the enthusiasm among the viewers was palpably missing.”

Another resident Amit alleged that the committee is concentrating more on having a new outlook for the festival and the tradition events and ways of amusements were being ignored. He further alleged, “Maha Nati was introduced during the festival for a couple of years and Dev Dhun with Bajantaris (traditional bands accompanying the visiting deities) was also held once to please political leaders. However, little effort has been made to maintain the grandeur of prevalent practices and standard of performances in the Kala Kendra.”