Curtain rung on the week long Kullu Dussehra festival but the traditional ritual of sacrificing five birds and animals on the last day was not performed as Kardars (caretakers) of deities abided by the orders of the High Court banning animal sacrifice at religious places and ceremonies.
The festival started under the shadow of High Court order banning animal sacrifice and the Kardars of local deities were upset and the president of the Kardar Sangh, Maheshwar Singh, and MLA even moved the Supreme Court.
The festival ended with the return of presiding deity Lord Raghunathji from Dhalpur Maidan, the venue of Dussehra, to his abode at Sultanpur temple.
About 250 local deities who had gathered at Kullu to pay obeisance to Lord Raghunathji also returned to their places.
Kullu Dussehra is unique in the sense that the week long festivals start from the day Dussehra concludes in other parts of the country with burning of effigies of Ravana, Kumbhkaran and Meghnath and festivities resolve around Lord Raghunathji.
No effigies are burnt here but "lanka Dahan"(burning of Lanka) was performed.
But the ritual of animal sacrifice (buffalo, a male sheep, a fish, a crab and a chicken) on the last day to appease the gods was missing this time.
"The Dussehra festivities concluded peacefully and there was no attempt to perform animal sacrifice," Kullu Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Kanwar said.
"We were able to convince the Kardar Sangh not to indulge in slaughter of animals and they assured us in this regard," Kanwar said.
The Supreme Court yesterday refused to vacate or suspend the High Court order banning animal sacrifice during Kullu Dussehra and in other religious rituals in Himachal Pradesh.
The festival dates back to 1637 when Raja Jagat Singh ruled Kullu.
He invited all local deities in Kullu from various temples to perform a ritual in honour of Lord Raghunath during Dussehra.
Since then, the annual assembly of deities from hundreds of village temples has become a tradition.
After abolition of the princely states, the Himachal Pradesh government has been inviting the deities and giving an honorarium to the 'Kardars' for participating in the festival.
