Mandi Shivratri — a glimpse of rich deity culture

Dipender Manta

Mandi’s Shivratri fair is a glimpse of rich deity culture, in which over 200 deities from across the district visit for week-long festivities every year. 

The event starts on Maha Shivratri and the town dons a festive look for seven days. The town echoes sounds of drum beats and trumpets, which is generally used with deities, when they move out of their temples.

During all these days, local rain god Kamru Nag, the presiding deity of the Maha Shivratri, moves to Tarna Ma temple at the top of the Tarna hill after paying obeisance to Madho Rai on the first day of event, from where he watches the proceedings of the fair for seven days.

The confluence of deities is a splendid show, which reflects how desperate they are to meet each other after a gap of one year. Lord Krishna known as Madho Rai is the chief deity of the event. He is placed at a temple in the middle of the town. Deities coming from far-flung areas first visit the temple of Madho Rai to pay him homage and later move to their identified places in the town.

The deities have a significant role to rule their devotees in villages, as people have deep faith on them. During the week-long festival, devotees stay in the town in temporary camps and take active participation in deity culture. The district administration makes the arrangement for their stay and their followers here in the town, while the kardar sangh performs religious activities related to deity culture.

The procession of deities (palanquin and raths) is taken out from Madho Rai temple to the Paddal ground, in which a majority of deities participate along with their followers. 

Mandi Shivratri is the only festival in the country, where Lord Krishna, known as Madho Rai in Mandi, and local deities are worshiped along with Lord Shiva. It is a kind of ‘mahakumbh’, in which hundreds of deities of the district sit together during the one-week fair and give an opportunity to devotees to pay obeisance at a single place.

The observance of the fair is marked on Shivratri, when the village gods are carried in palanquins or rathas by people to Mandi to pay homage to Madho Rai. Members of Brahmin and Kshatriya communities carry their gods and goddesses in palanquins or on their back.

As an accepted practice, every deity, decorated beautifully, visits Madho Rai temple first to pay obeisance to Lord Vishnu and then proceed to the palace in a colourful procession called the Shoba Yatra, known locally as ‘Zaleb’. There is an order that has to be maintained in the sequence of worship, based on rank and status of the deities invited to the fair.

The fair is also an occasion when local traders and people carry out brisk trade in local products such as wool, honey, walnut, ghee (butter oil), and general merchandise from the region of Kangra, Kullu, Shimla, Bilaspur and from the neighbouring state of Punjab. 

A Jagran (a nightlong worship) is held a day prior to the concluding day, where a guru and his disciple proclaim prophesies for the following year. On the last day, prayers are chanted and after paying obeisance to Lord Shiva, all deities leave to their original abodes.

The specific observance of this festival as a fair is linked to its ruler Ishwari Sen. Ishawri Sen was held a prisoner for 12 years after he lost his kingdom in the war waged by Sansar Chand of Punjab, in 1792. He was released by Gurkhas, who invaded Kangra and Mandi states. Afterwards, the Gurkhas restored Mandi state to Ishwari Sen. He was given a reception on the occasion of his return to Mandi, his state capital.The King invited all hill deities of the kingdom and held a grand celebration, and this day happened to be Shivratri festival day. Since then, the practice of holding the Mandi fair during Shivratri has been observed every year. 

Confluence of deities a splendid show

• The event starts on Maha Shivratri and the town dons a festive look for seven days. The town echoes sounds of drum beats and trumpets, which is generally used with deities, when they move out of their temples. 

• During all these days, local rain god Kamru Nag, the presiding deity of the Maha Shivratri, moves to Tarna Ma temple at the top of the Tarna hill after paying obeisance to Madho Rai — chief presiding deity — on the first day of the event, from where he watches the proceedings of the fair for seven days.