Kullu: Basant Panchami festival is fervently observed

Here today, Basant Panchami was observed with much joy and enthusiasm. The celebrations started at the Raghunath temple in Sultanpur with a number of rites being performed. Lord Rama, Sita, and Hanuman’s idols were carried from the temple in a decked palanquin and set inside a wooden chariot on the Dhalpur grounds.

Hundreds of worshippers drew the chariot from the northern tip of the field to the center camp temple. During this “rath yatra,” touching the rope is seen to be fortunate. The celebration was attended by Maheshwar Singh, the descendant of the former Kullu royal dynasty and Lord Raghunath’s “chharibardar,” or main caretaker.

The Mahant community has begun celebrating Holi, and for the next forty days, they will worship the main god and play gulal and sing traditional songs in the streets.

The celebration of Basant Panchami is said to have started when the idols arrived here in the middle of the 17th century, but it was not resurrected until 2009, after a lapse of almost 48 years.