Mandi Shivratri Fair

About Shivratri Festival

Mandi Shivratri fair is the annual fair held for 7 days starting with the hindu festival of shivratri in the Mandi town.It is held per year as hindu calendar on the Krishna paksha 13th day/13th night of the waning moon in the month of phalguna that corresponds to february-march as per gragorian calendar The festival’s popularity is wide spread and hence is known as an international festival. In view of the large number of gods and goddesses that are invited to the festival from its 81 temples, Mandi town has the title of 'Varanasi of the Hills'.During 2010, the festival will be celebrated from 12 February (Shivaratri day) for seven days till 19 February 2010

The Mandi festival or fair is particularly famous as the special fair transforms Mandi town into a venue of grand celebration when all gods and goddesses, said to be more than 200 deities of the Mandi district assemble here, starting with the day of Shivaratri. Mandi town located on the banks of the Beas River, popularly known as the "cathedral of temples", is one of the oldest towns of Himachal Pradesh with about 81 temples of different gods and goddesses in its periphery. There are several legends linked to the celebration of this event. The festival is centred around the protector deity of Mandi "Mado Rai" (Lord Vishnu) and Lord Shiva of the Bhootnath temple in Mandi

Mandi and Mahashivratri seem to have become synonymous as when we name one the other comes to mind immediately. Like all other festivals Mandi Mahashivratri, too, has some legends behind it and the legend has Lord Shiva behind it. Legend has it that a cow used to drip her milk on a stone in a forest where the present Mandi town is located. The fact was verified by the then ruler Ajber Sen. In the meantime Lord Shiva appeared in the dream and ordained
Ajber Sen to dig beneath the stone. He did it and to his pleasant surprise a large Shivlinga was found. He built Bhutnath temple on that spot in 1926.

Simultaneously the capital of Mandi State was shifted from Bhiuli to this place where the town is located at present. First Mahashivratri Fair was held at that time and is continuing since then.

The town of Mandi, considered to be the most fashion conscious place in Himachal next only to Shimla, is suddenly filled with an age old mystic presence of gods and goddesses arriving to the town for a great gathering on the occasion of Mahashivratri. For the entire week the town forgets everything else and celebrates the arrival of hundreds of local deities on elaborately decorated palanquins. It is a lifetime experience to watch the gods and goddesses heading for Mandi from various parts of the district, being carried either on back of the accompanying “Gur” or on Palanquins or some even on vehicles!

The whole of the town reverberated with the sounds of the nagaras and other traditional musical instruments. It seemed as if all these gods and goddesses had thronged all the nooks and corners of the town and the town had suddenly dotted with reds and orange colored palanquins giving the town a holy and mystic look. The god fearing me would bow my head at all the gods and goddesses making all kind of pleas to fill my life with happiness.

Though it is a fact that Shivratri is celebrated all over the country, but it has assumed special significance for Mandi, once the capital town of a princely state. A Shoba Yatra called Zareb marks the beginning of the fair, in which the images of gods and goddesses are carried in palanquins. The Shoba Yatra terminates at Padal ground, the venue of the fairs. The devotees first visit the Raj Madhav temple, which is the shrine of the main god of the area, and then visit Bhootnath temple to worship Lord Shiva, during the fair. The gods astride the palaquins would display their feelings of happiness at meeting Raj Madhav Rao and Lord Shiva the Bhootnath by making their palanquins sway in a joyful manner. These deities seemed so very human to me.

Rishi Kamru Nag, the presiding deity of the Mahashiratri, has a wooden temple near a legendary lake located at a height of 9000 ft above sea level and about 63 km from Mandi town. Kamru Nag came to Mandi town on Thursday and straightway headed for paying his obeisance at Raj Madhav Rao temple. After paying his obeisance he headed for his abode that is Tarna ma temple and it is here that he stays throughout the entire Mahashivratri fair. The legend about Rishi Kamru Nag and his Mahabharta connection made sense to me behind his wish to stay at the top most point of the town and watch the festivity from there. Recorded in the history of Mandi state, Kamru Nag is also a god of rains.

The other main gods and goddesses would come to pay their obeisance to Raj Madhav Rao temple that has a very pretty silver idol of Radha and Krishna. These deities would then wait for the procession called Zareb to start from this place where all the deities would march towards Paddal ground—the venue for celebration of the fair.

The excitement was in the air and the small area was thronging with more people then it could accommodate. Excitement filled with exhilaration and unrest was the mood of the thronging crowds. Overhearing the heated discussions among the
devotees having accompanied these deities made me feel how human these simple hilly deities are! There was one deity who was participating in the Zareb after 45 years and his devotees were arguing for the position that they had earlier but was now usurped by other deities! It was a tough job to assign the position to all these deities and then make them proceed in the procession. Egos at work even among deities.

History of the Fair

Mandi town, where the festival is held, was ruled by Raja Ajbar Sen who was considered the first great ruler of Mandi in the sixteenth century, since he not only combined the hereditary regions but also added to it by conquering new areas. Apart from his palace, he built the temple of Bhootnath (temple for Shiva) at the centre of the Mandi town, which is one of the two focal temples of the festival^.In the theocratic state that evolved during this period, worship of Shiva and related goddesses was dominant.

However, the theocratic nature of the state received special emphasis when, during Raja Suraj Sen’s reign, Vishnu worship also became integral to the State. Raja Suraj Sen (1664 to 1679), who did not have an heir, built the temple known as “Madhav Rai temple”, dedicated to a form of Lord Vishnu, as protector of Mandi. An elegant silver image of Radha and Krishna was made by his goldsmith Bhima, in the year 1705, which was named "Madho Rai" and deified, and ordained as the King of the State of Mandi thereafter. Since then the rulers served the state as servants of Madho Rai and custodians of the State. Suraj Sen’s successors have also held the deity of the temple in great reverence. This god is represented with precedence over all other gods on various religious occasions. The theocratic nature of the people of the state is amply reflected during the popular "Mandi Shivratri Fair", which is held every year with great fanfare.

However, the specific observance of this festival as a fair, starting with Shivaratri, 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 the Gurkha invaders who had invaded the Kangraand Mandi states. Afterwards, the Gurkhas' restored the Mandi state to Ishwari Sen. He was given a reception on the occasion of his return to Mandi, his state capital. On this occasion, the King invited all hill deities of the Kingdom and held a grand celebration, and this day happened to be the Shivratri festival day. Since then the practice of holding the Mandi fair during Shivaratri has been observed every year at Mandi. In recent years, modernity has also set in with Bollywood artists performing at the fair at Paddal in the celebrations in the evenings