Samatva

When the whole town is a temple, Kullu Dussehrah

Kullu Dussehrah. Temples of Himachal …11.

Kullu has long decoupled from Manali.

The thin riverside town doesn’t look pretty with narrow streets and its general untidiness is a misfit with the rest of Himachal. It has its glory though, for a week every year during Kullu Dussehrah. Kullu excels in the tradition of Devtas. Each village was a small kingdom with its own Devta and the tradition continues till today. The devtas resemble a vertical plate – all gold we hear. The Devtas advise and mediate; and fix every joy and address every sorrow. People say even elections are decided before polling by the Devta, with a sacrifice of a goat.

Raghunathji in Kullu is the presiding devta, with a legacy tracing back to Ayodhya. Each year, Raghunathji invites all the Devtas to Kullu, for a week. Even today, the District Magistrate writes a formal letter to each Devta on behalf of Raghunatji, inviting them to Kullu. The Dussehrah starts on the day it ends in rest of India, on Vijayadasami, and continues for a week after that.

The deities arrive on foot to Kullu, carried by villagers, around 225 each year. They visit Raghunathji and make their way to the large ground in Kullu. Each Devta has a designated area; and the villagers live, cook, eat and celebrate with their deity for a week.

I first saw the last day of Kullu Dussehrah in 2017 for a brief while; and then resolved to come back. Last year, I managed a whirlwind trip to see the opening day. The festivities are remarkable; the stream of Devtas and pilgrims paying respect to Raghunatji; then march their way through narrow and steep alleys to the ground. The joy and revelry at the ground in the evening. Women dressed in Kullu fineries. Children awestruck at the chaos which no You Tube can show.

If you want to live a festival with no center of gravity, think of Kullu., the coming together of 200+ deities in one place. There is raw festivity, colours, noise, crowds and celebration.

After all, these seven days, the whole town is a temple.

The perspective of Buddha, Langza

Langza. Temples of Himachal ….12

The river Spiti is the spine of the region and Kaza, the largest town. It is about 3800 meters altitude. The river valley is somewhat narrow and hardly has any vegetation along it. A number of villages rise up the valley at different heights. Each has a patch of land, some large, some small, that surprisingly is cultivable.

Langza is one such village. It has less than 150 people. It is at 4250 meters. It is a sharp climb from the valley on barren mountain face. The road snakes through gaps in the mountains and then it suddenly opens up to the vista. You can see tiny specks of the village and houses at a distance.

The centrepiece of the village is the Buddha statue, giant, maybe 40 or 50 feet high. He overlooks the vast plains and it is difficult to get a sense of proportion with all that space. Right behind the Buddha is the 21000 feet Chau Chau mountain. With snow all around the year, it looks like a ice cream cone.

There are a couple of houses that host guests. When I reached early afternoon there was no one around at the place I was planning to stay. A toddler asked me to settle down and said his dad will come in a while. Time kind of doesn’t make sense here and he eventually came, hosted, guided and cooked for me. The womenfolk are totally engrossed in the farm work and don’t waste a minute of sunshine in late summer. Langza is also known for fossils which I didn’t buy from the two women bent on selling to me. I should have. I had plans for Annapurna in the autumn and thought I’d buy them there. I should have bought some in Langza.

Langza also leads up to Hikkim which the world’s highest post office; and further on to Komic which has a road at 4600 meters.

Langza and the Buddha, at 4250 meters, more than take the breath away. It is a different perspective.

One of her kind, Bhimkali at Sarahan

Most temples in Himachal are small. That is the burden of the terrain. There are a few exceptions. Sarahan is one. It is on the Sutlej valley, just before the famous Kinnaur district. Once the road from Shimla drops down to the Sutlej valley, the drive is magical. It hugs the river for the entire stretch until it reaches a place called Jeori. A branch road climbs up to Sarahan. A paramilitary camp is on the way to Sarahan. I was about to cross the camp on a bike, and was waved down. I was a bit tentative, it was a hired bike and I didn’t know what to expect. Then the soldier offered me tea. The camp serves tea to everyone who passes by. He was chatty, but giving zero details of what was the camp about; and there are strict warnings of no photographs. High up on the hills, about 800 meters above the river valley is Sarahan. It has the Bhimkali temple, one of the Shakti Peeths in India. It also has a fearsome reputation of human sacrifice until 17th century, but these stories can be mere legends. It is a really large temple in the mountains. A beautiful mix of stone, wood and slate, it both stands out and blends into the landscape. A lovely perimeter, small shrines and two tall towers. The deities are at different levels. There is also a small guest house within the temple that is open to public. Sarahan is also a beautiful hill country. There are endless small roads around Sarahan, leading to no place in particular. There is also a pointless manmade park amidst all the natural beauty, made maybe because there was a budget for doing something. I went to Sarahan in August, when the whole region is covered by clouds and mist. Anywhere around Sarahan is a great visual treat. Visibility beyond a hundred feet was just a pale haze. Every now and then the mist would clear a bit and I could a bit more of the hills. Towards evening, it settled rapidly; and the Sutlej river lifted itself into view appearing out of the mist. It was also apple harvest season. Anywhere you walk, you can stretch your hand and pick an apple. If you are lazy, you can also help yourself from crates of plucked apples left on the road; trucks would come at their own schedule to pick them up. For some reason, I had carried Rain, the first book written by my friend Sriram. I finished the book while I was in Sarahan. The monsoon, the solo trip, and the general forlorn character of Sarahan was a beautiful complement to the theme of the book. If you have two days around Shimla, visit Sarahan; and if you can spare three hours for great prose, read Rain by Sriram; preferably together.Bhimkali temple at Sarahan