Kullu Dussehra Festival The one Dussehra in India that BEGINS on the afternoon the rest of the country finishes.
Kullu Dussehra 2026 falls on Tuesday, 20 October, computed for Chennai.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
- English
- Kullu Dussehra
- हिन्दी
- कुल्लू दशहरा
Only the names actually in use are listed. A blank script is not an omission: the day may simply not be kept there, or be kept under a different festival's name.
Asia/Kolkata · UTC+5:30
The date of a festival depends on the place: a tithi that ends at dusk in Chennai can still be running at dusk a thousand kilometres west, which moves the day. Sunrise and sunset here are computed for the place above.
When it falls next
Himachal · Uttarakhand calendar, computed for Chennai
- Tuesday, 20 October 2026
- Saturday, 9 October 2027
- Wednesday, 27 September 2028
Where Kullu Dussehra falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2026: 20 Oct
- 2027: 9 Oct
- 2028: 27 Sep
The dates, year by year
Himachal · Uttarakhand calendar, computed for Chennai
| Year | Kullu Dussehra |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Thursday, 2 October 2025 |
| 2026 | Tuesday, 20 October 2026 |
| 2027 | Saturday, 9 October 2027 |
| 2028 | Wednesday, 27 September 2028 |
| 2029 | Tuesday, 16 October 2029 |
| 2030 | Sunday, 6 October 2030 |
| 2031 | Saturday, 25 October 2031 |
| 2032 | Thursday, 14 October 2032 |
| 2033 | Monday, 3 October 2033 |
| 2034 | Sunday, 22 October 2034 |
| 2035 | Thursday, 11 October 2035 |
| 2036 | Monday, 29 September 2036 |
Worked out for Chennai, Lahiri ayanamsa. A date is a function of the place: set yours above and the next three come back for where you are.
What the day is
The one Dussehra in India that BEGINS on the afternoon the rest of the country finishes. The village gods of the whole Kullu valley come down to the Dhalpur maidan in their palanquins, more than two hundred of them in a good year, and Raghunath is drawn across the maidan on his rath by ropes that anyone may pull. Seven days are kept from there, with the gods camped on the maidan, and it closes with the Lanka Dahan, a fire of brushwood on the bank of the Beas, after which the gods go home to their valleys.
- Deity
- Raghunath, Hadimba, the devtas of the Kullu valley
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
The hour
Clock times for Tuesday, 20 October 2026 at Chennai
Ashwina Shukla Dashami running at aparahna, the fourth of the five parts of the day, and seven days from it. The rath is drawn in the late afternoon of the first day and again on the last.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Aparahna | 13:04 | the afternoon, three fifths of the daylight after sunrise |
Sunrise 06:00, sunset 17:47, UTC+5.5. These are the instants the rule is read at, not the temple's own puja times, which every temple prints for itself.
The fast
No fast. The seven days are a fair, and the valley eats on the maidan, with siddu and the Kullu dham served at the camps.
Where the regions differ
Nowhere else does Dussehra open on the Dashami rather than end on it, and nowhere else is the festival a gathering of local gods rather than a Ramlila; there is no effigy of Ravana burnt at Kullu. Hadimba of Manali must arrive before the rath will move, and Raghunath will not go out until she has. Mandi does the same thing on Maha Shivaratri with its own devtas and Madho Rai in place of Raghunath.
The dates above are the Himachal · Uttarakhand reckoning, because that is the calendar this key belongs to. Switch the tradition on the calendar page to see how another one dates the same day.
Every date here is computed from the Sun and Moon for the place entered, by the rule printed beside it. A printed panchangam can differ by a day where an almanac reads a tithi at a different instant, and a family's own custom always comes first. Where the practice genuinely varies, the text says so rather than choosing for you.