Kullu is a small town at the center of Himachal Pradesh in northern India. It was once also called Kulanthpitha, which means "at the edge of the habitable world". The town is situated in a broad valley carved by the Beas River, sandwiched between the Pir Panjal, the Lower Himalayan and Great Himalayan ranges.
Earliest chronicle of Kullu is attributed to the Chinese monk Xuanzang who passed through it in AD 634 or 635. He described the valley and mentioned a stupa here built by Ashoka. The town remained inaccessible to motor vehicles until after the Indian independence.