Lakhwar Dussehra Paryatan Mela : A Celebration of Devinity and Myraid Recreation

Dussehra at Lakhwar - Dedicated to Revered Lord Mahasu

Village Lakhwar occupies a unique place in Jaunsar Bawar. The Khat derives its name from the village. It signifies progressive character and unity and is trend-setting in many ways for whole of Jaunsar Bawar hilly and tribal area. Dussehra celebrations at Lakhwar has for decades embodied these qualities. The Festival in this Tribal region is the climax and culmination of a period of about two months beginning with “Jagdo” in August when Lord Mahasu comes out of temple sancto-santorum for Darshan of the Palkis by the general public.


The event at Lakhwar has all the ingredients of deep faith in Jaunsar Bawar's main Deity Lord Mahasu. The large crowd of devotees are also treated to sports & entertainment extravegenza held around the main event. Those stationed outside, relatives and guests throng from various parts/regions. Lakhwar Dussehra assumes special significance with local people consistantly making efforts to improve the organisation of the event with a spirit of doing it better every time. The Lord Mahasu's Tharan (Seat) at Lakhwar adds to the attraction of Dussehra. The Palkis of the Lord Mahasu Brothers, the Botha and the Chalda Maharaj(referred as Bapuda) comes out on the final day at about 11.00 a.m. to give Darshan and thus bless the thousands of devotees.

Palki Darshan

Dussehra fell on September 28, 2009 this year and it was an equally impressive turn out that witnessed the Palkis coming out scaling the temple railings on second floor. Amidst the chants of "Mahasu Maharaj Ki Jai" the first Palki of Lord Botha the elder of the two Mahasu brothers come out and the Palki of Lord Chalda followed suit. The bright silver shining Palkis evoked spontaneous Jayakara from the devotees. The followers took turns, each trying to out do others in earning good fortunes of offering their shoulders to the Palkis or at least be able touch them, while being taken around the Temple ground to the dedicated beats/rhythm. This procession, as every year, is led by those on whom the spirits of various deities descend- the Shukrad, the Mahasu Malis and the Pandavas. It would not be before next Jagdo that the Palkis of the Lord bless their devotees with the Public Darshan.

Mahasu Temple an epitome of Grand modern Architecture
The Lord Mahasu Temple at Lakhwar has been rebuilt in recent years. This initiative has been a harbinger of revolutionary activities in Jaunsar Bawar to give an appropriate facelift to varioustemples particularly of the Mahasu temples. It simply must be the best example so far. The temple has a grand structure, containing a Hall on ground floor, an overlooking circular balcony on first floor openning to both the Hall inside and for a view of the temple ground outside. The Seats of the Deities on the top floor are located on the either side of the temple leaving enough space for devotees to queue-up in-between after the First darshan. There are spacious and separate stairs to enter (go up) and exit (descend). The temple Samiti has done a great job in planning, arranging man, material and monetary resources and implementation for building this grand temple.

Attractive Sports and Cultural Events
The area in and around Lakhwar Khat has produced several important sports-persons who have brought laurels at local and national levels. The volley-ball has been one of the important sports in the area along with local sports like Kabbadi. No wonder sports competition held on Dussehra at Lakhwar has been one of the most important one in entire Jaunsar Bawar for decades. International sports like Chess and Badminton among others have also become quite popular attracting players from Chakrata, Vikas Nagar, Dehra Dun, Saharanpur, etc. There have been occasions when Teams from even Delhi have participated.

The Cultural events earlier used have Competition Section with entries open to Village Teams. Enacting Ramlila or a play in the evenings on different days made the entertainment events well-rounded. The stand-up comedians and voluntary local dancers and singers used to make up for variety and laughter. The cultural evening has now given way to celebrated musical troupes and artists. They are invited from as far as Himachal Paradesh and Garhwal besides the famous-popular ones from Jaunsar Bawar to perform for a gala evening on two days, the Dussehra day and the day before. Artists like Vicky Chauhan and Kuldeep Sharma ( both from Himachal), Zubin Nautiyal, Nandlal Bharti, Priyanka Negi, etc and local talents have performed in different years. This year was a special one with the audience treated to culturally rich performances by Nandlal Bharti and team on day one and highly entertaining show by Zubin Nautiyal, Priyanka Negi and Kuldeep Sharma on the second day.