Kullu () is a municipal council town that serves as the administrative headquarters of the Kullu district of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It is located on the banks of the Beas River in the Kullu Valley about north of the airport at Bhuntar.
Kullu Valley is a broad open valley formed by the Beas River between Manali and Larji. This valley is known for its temples and its hills covered with pine and Cedrus deodara forest and sprawling apple orchards. The course of the Beas river, originating from Beas Kund presents a succession of hillside settlements studded amongst forests of deodar that tower above pine trees on the lower rocky ridges. Together with the river Beas running through the valley, the town of Kullu offers truly magnificent views. Kullu Valley is sandwiched between the Pir Panjal, Lower Himalayan and Great Himalayas, located in Northern India, away from the capital of India.
The Buddhist pilgrim monk Xuanzang visited the Kullu Valley in 634 or 635 CE. He described it as a fertile region completely surrounded by mountains, about 3,000 li in circuit, with a capital 14 or 15 li in circumference. There were some twenty Buddhist monasteries, with about 1,000 monks, most of whom following the Mahayana. There were also some fifteen Hindu temples, and both faiths occupied the region. There were meditation caves near the mountain passes inhabited by both Buddhist and Hindus. The country is said to have produced gold, silver, red copper, crystal lenses and bell-metal.Watters (1904-1905), pp. 298, 335.
India [[census]], Kullu had a population of 437,903. The male population in Kullu is 225,452 whereas the female population is 212,451. The sex ratio of Kullu is 942 females per 1000 males, which is higher than the national sex ratio. The average literacy rate of Kullu is 79.4%; the male literacy rate is 87.39% and the female literacy rate is 70.91%. The people speak the [[Kullui]] language.
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