Basant Panchami celebrated with fervour in Himachal

Kullu, February 5

Basant Panchami festival was celebrated with fervour here today. The festivities commenced from the Raghunath temple. Idols of Lord Rama, Sita and Hanuman were brought in a beautifully decorated palanquin from the temple and placed in a wooden chariot.

The rath was pulled by hundreds of devotees from the northern end of Dhalpur Maidan to the camp temple in the middle, as was done during Kullu Dasehra. It is considered auspicious to touch the rope during the rath yatra. Maheshwar Singh, the scion of the erstwhile royal family, who is also the “chharibardar” (chief caretaker) of Lord Raghunath, participated in the traditional yatra.

Various rituals were carried out at the camp temple. People had come from across the district to witness the festivities. Earlier, a person guised as Hanuman ran around, brushing people with his vermilion-laden body. According to a local belief, Hanuman’s touch is considered auspicious.

The tradition of celebrating Basant Panchami is believed to have survived since the advent of the idols here in the mid-17th century, however, it was revived in 2009 after a span of about 48 years. The festivities of Holi also started here on Saturday. Members of the Mahant community will play with “gulal”, sing traditional songs in the streets, visit the Raghunath Temple and worship there for the next 40 days.

Though there was a plan to celebrate the utsav on a small scale due to Covid earlier, but after discussions with the DC, it was decided that the festival would be celebrated like previous years.