Kullu Dussehra — dates, the rath yatra and how to see it

The dates

Year	Dates	Source
2025	From 2 October, for seven days	News Arena India
2026	21–27 October	All India Radio

The festival follows the lunar calendar, so it falls on different dates each year, usually in October. This page is updated when the next dates are announced.

The week

On the first day comes the rath yatra: Lord Raghunath is placed in his wooden chariot at the north end of Dhalpur Maidan, and the crowd hauls it across the ground on its ropes. The village deities — more than 200 of them, each on a palanquin carried by people from its village — come to pay their respects and take their places around the ground for the week; Goddess Hidimba of Manali is among them. There are cultural evenings at the Lal Chand Prarthi Kala Kendra. Between four and five lakh visitors come during the week.

The story

In the 17th century, the story goes, Raja Jagat Singh of Kullu brought an idol of Lord Raghunath from Ayodhya as penance and set it on his throne, making Raghunath the valley’s ruling deity. The Dussehra gathering, in which the valley’s own gods come to honour Raghunath, grew from that. The state government now holds it as the International Kullu Dussehra.

The last day: Lanka Dahan

On the seventh day the chariot is taken down to the bed of the Beas, where a pile of grass is burnt to stand for the burning of Lanka. Then the chariot and Lord Raghunath are brought back, and the festival ends.

Seeing it from Manali

Kullu is about 40 km from Manali — 10 km north of Bhuntar, which is 50 km from Manali — so a day trip works, or you can stay in Manali and go down twice. Leave early, because the road into Kullu is slow during the festival. The Manali to Kasol taxi runs the same road through Kullu, and the Kullu, Kasol and Manikaran guide covers the rest of the valley. Tell us your date on WhatsApp if you want a car for the day. For other times of year see the best time to visit Himachal.