BHOPAL: An annual ‘war of stone-pelting involving residents of two riverside villages, which is linked to a mythological tale about the killing of two lovers, left around 200 people injured in Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh on Saturday. Two of the injured are reportedly in critical condition in a hospital in neighbouring Nagpur, official sources said.
Separated by the Jam river, the villagers of Pandhurna and Sabargaon indulged in the deadly ritual on the 15th day of the dark fortnight (Shanishchari Amavasya) of Hindi month of Bhadrapad. The ritual is a part of a tradition that goes back at least five centuries.
As a part of the annual Gotmar fair, the two sides stock up rocks and pelt each other with them, injuring dozens of them. Sources in Chhindwara – around 300km from state capital Bhopal – say the brickbats have seen 13 deaths since 1955.
Official sources say that every year, the Chhindwara authorities impose prohibitory orders, ban the sale of liquor for two days and try to prevent the stocking of stones in both villages, to little effect.
Officials say they have made several attempts over the years to dissuade the villages to give up the dangerous ritual. Even during the two Covid years, some residents managed to keep up the tradition despite all preventive measures.
While at least 100 people were reportedly injured in 2020, the count was 250 in the following year. Officials recall that in 1978 and 1987, the local police had to resort to firing after mobs from both sides attacked each other as well as the police personnel.
Every year the local administration deploys teams of doctors and paramedics at the Gotmar Fair venue to timely treat major injuries.
The legend has it that two love-birds (the girl from Sanwargaon and the boy from Pandhurna village) died after being caught in the middle of stone-pelting involving the two sides near the Jam river.