Fair
Minjar Fair, Chamba
When it happens
Begins on the second Sunday of the Hindu month of Shravana and lasts a week, so it usually falls in late July or the first half of August. The exact dates follow the Hindu lunar calendar and change each year.
The minjar is a tassel of silk threads, shaped like the flowering shoot of maize and often twisted with gold or coloured thread. During the fair people pin it to their clothes, and the whole town wears it for the week. The fair opens with the minjar being offered to the deity Raghunath ji and to the Ravi.
For seven days the Chowgan — the long green maidan in the centre of Chamba — fills with stalls, craft sellers, food, sporting contests and stage performances of Pahari music and dance. On the final day a grand procession carries the flag and the deities from the Akhand Chandi palace to the river, where a coconut, a rupee, a seasonal fruit and a minjar are floated away on the Ravi.
Minjar is one of Himachal's oldest continuously held fairs and was declared a state-level fair decades ago; it now brings visitors and cultural troupes from across the region.
Why it matters
Tradition links the fair to a 10th-century victory of the Chamba raja over the ruler of Trigarta (Kangra), after which the people welcomed the raja home with sheaves of paddy and maize. Others connect the river offering to a prayer for the Ravi to change a course that once ran away from the town. Either way it marks the start of the maize-flowering season and a thanksgiving for the coming harvest.
What to expect
The opening and closing processions between the palace and the river, a week-long fair on the Chowgan with crafts and Chamba rumal embroidery, folk dance and music each evening, and monsoon weather — expect some rain and keep an eye on road conditions to Chamba.
Places nearby
Lunar dates shift every year and local programmes change — confirm the current year's dates with Himachal Pradesh Tourism or the district administration before you book travel.