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Though mother Durga is propitiated in a different manner in this area, there is a common element with the other provinces of Northern India. Dussehra or Durga Puja is a national festival, for the rich and the poor and for all the communities. There is no caste or social barrier among the devotees. To the people of this complex so very rich in natural beauty Mother Durga comes in as the most popular deity very naturally.
The Himalayas, the Dhauladhar and the Shivalik ranges have given superb land scapes of which Kulu-Manali complex has a very prominent place. There are religious and pilgrim centres, temples and holy water-sheets that bring thousands of devotees from far and wide. There was aji acute need of well-appointed places of rest and the problem has attracted the attention of the Government and hotels, Rest Bungalows,Youth Hostels, Dharam- shalas, Sarais, Holiday centres etc., are being set up.
It is said that about 2000 temples, big or small, exist in Himachal Pradesh. The culture is the product of a harmonious development and blending o the Siva, Shakti and Vaishnava cults and the temples in this complex are typical of that harmonious Pahadi culture Kulu district is exquisite in the spring time (March) when the apricot trees offer fairy sprays of leafless bouquets and cherry and peach blossoms stand out like splashes of bright color across the mountainscape.
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