Kullu Dussehra 2026 from Jibhi: Dates, the Devtas Who Travel, and What You Can See
Kullu Dussehra 2026 runs 21 to 27 October at Dhalpur. Banjar's devtas travel there from villages around Jibhi; here is what that looks like from the valley.
Kullu Dussehra 2026 runs 21 to 27 October
The International Kullu Dussehra 2026 is set for 21 to 27 October at the Dhalpur grounds in Kullu town. That is the date range in the Dussehra Festival Committee's own tender notices and the range the committee chairman gave at the curtain raiser in late September. Vijayadashami itself falls on Tuesday 20 October; the Kullu fair begins the next day with the Rath Yatra of Raghunathji and runs for seven days. The committee expects more than 300 local deities to take part, out of roughly 365 that are counted in the district. If you are booking anything non refundable, check the district administration's final programme first.
Why a fair in Kullu matters in Jibhi
Kullu Dussehra is not a show that happens to the valley. It happens from the valley. Every village around Jibhi has its own devta, a living deity with a manager, an oracle, musicians and a following, and the festival is the one week in the year when hundreds of them leave home together and gather at Dhalpur. The official Dussehra records list Shringa Rishi of Bagi, the presiding rishi of the Banjar side, among the devtas who attend Kullu Dussehra. Budhi Nagin, the mother goddess of Ghiyagi and Serolsar lake, has two official entries that disagree on whether she goes, which is a fair picture of how these traditions live: kept in villages, not in one book.
The practical part for a visitor is this. Devtas from Outer Seraj, the side of the Jalori Pass that Jibhi sits on, set out days before the fair opens. In the days around 18 to 21 October you may meet a procession on the Banjar road: a palanquin on two men's shoulders, drums, a line of villagers behind. You may also walk up to a temple and find it quiet, with the deity away. Both are the festival, seen from this end.
What you are looking at when a devta passes
A devta travels on a rath, a palanquin that carries the devta's mohras, the metal faces that hold its power. One chief mohra is often kept covered. The rath moves on the shoulders of two bearers, and the devta is understood to answer questions, settle disputes and even sulk, speaking through the gur, the oracle. The kardar manages the temple and the journey. The drums are part of the ritual, not a soundtrack, and some are played only by people the devta has chosen. When all of this arrives at Dhalpur it pays obeisance to Raghunathji, a tradition the official history dates to 1651, when Raja Jagat Singh installed Raghunathji at Kullu and summoned the kardars of every devta to assemble there.