Kullu, Oct 5  The weeklong Kullu Dussehra festivities, unique to this Himachal Pradesh town, concluded Monday as 214 deities brought here for the celebrations started their journey back to the various temples in beautifully decorated palanquins.

Kullu Dussehra is a centuries-old festival and celebrations here begin on 'Vijaya Dashami', the day when the festivities end in the rest of the country.

"All the 214 assembled deities at the Dhalpur grounds (at Kullu) started their journey back to their temples in decorated palanquins this (Monday) morning. Now they will assemble here again next year," Deputy Commissioner B. M. Nanta, who is the chief organiser of the festival, told IANS.

The Dussehra festivities came to end Sunday evening as the chariot of chief deity Lord Raghunath, being pulled by thousands of devotees, reached the Lord Raghunath temple here.

The deities from different villages across the Kullu valley had been brought here during the festival that began Sep 28 and they are believed to pay obeisance to Lord Raghunath (as Lord Ram is known in the Kullu valley) during the week.

The festival dates back to 1637 when Raja Jagat Singh was the ruler of 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.

It is the only festival in the country where such a large number of deities are assembled at one place. The festival concludes with the Lankadahan ceremony. (IANS)