Devalok
Local story · 2 tellings · The Himalaya

The god who came to Kullu (Raghunath and Raja Jagat Singh)

Raja Jagat Singh demands pearls a Brahmin does not have; the Brahmin burns himself and his family, and the king is cursed. The cure is the foot-water of a true image of Rama from Ayodhya, brought by Damodar Das in 1651. The king gives his throne to Raghunath, and the valley's gods gather to him at Dussehra.

Who is in it

Places: Kullu, Ayodhya, Sultanpur, Dhalpur

The story, beat by beat

  1. Jagat Singh demands Durgadatt's pearls; Durgadatt has none and burns himself and his family, crying 'Have the pearls'.
  2. The king sees worms in his rice and blood in his water; no healer helps.
  3. Krishnadas Payahari prescribes the foot-water of a true image of Rama from Ayodhya.
  4. Damodar Das brings the image from the Tretanath temple in 1651; the king drinks and is cured.
  5. The king sets Raghunath on the throne and rules as his servant; the valley's gods are summoned for Vijayadashami.
  6. In another telling Damodar steals the thumb-sized images and the pursuing priests cannot lift them.

curse atonement kingship festival

How it is told, place by place

Base telling · Temple tradition

The Kullu Dussehra tradition

The Himalaya · hi Vaishnava 🪔 Dussehra

Raja Jagat Singh demands pearls of the Brahmin Durgadatt, who has none; Durgadatt burns his house with his family, cutting his flesh at every leap of the fire and crying 'Have the pearls, O Raja'. The king sees worms in rice and blood in water; nothing cures him. The ascetic Krishnadas (Pahari Baba) says only the charanamrit of a true image of Rama from Ayodhya will. His disciple Damodar Dass, with gutka siddhi, brings the image and a pujari from the Tretanath temple in July 1651. The king is cured, rules as Raghunath's first servant, and summons the valley's gods for Vijayadashami.

History of Kullu Dussehra (the festival's own site), with Sahapedia and the Kullu district history

Media

The stolen images, as reported from Kullu

The Himalaya · hi Vaishnava 🪔 Dussehra

Taranath sends the king to Krishandas Payhari, who asks for the images of Rama and Sita made at the Ashwamedha. Damodar Das serves the Tretanath priests a year, slips away with the thumb-sized images, and is overtaken at Haridwar (or at the Saryu); the priests cannot lift the images, which Damodar carries easily, and accept that the god wishes to go to Kullu. The images rest at Makrahad, Manikaran and Naggar before the Sultanpur temple of 1660.

What is different here:

A theft and a chase instead of a gift; Rama and Sita both; the idols' halts on the way.

Unique Dasehra; Kullu Dasehra: the tradition and legacy of Himachal's mega-festival, The Tribune; Kullu Dussehra, Wikipedia

Sources: History of Kullu Dussehra (the festival's own site), with Sahapedia and the Kullu district history; Unique Dasehra; Kullu Dasehra: the tradition and legacy of Himachal's mega-festival, The Tribune; Kullu Dussehra, Wikipedia

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