Stone pelting fair ritual rounds off festival of lights

Shimla: A day after the festival of lights, a unique stone pelting fair was organised on Saturday as part of an annual ritual in the former princely state of Dhami in Himachal Pradesh.

In local parlance it is known as "pattharon ka mela" (fair of stones). During the fair, male adults gathered in a ground and pelted each other with small stones in Dhami village, some 40 kilometres from Himachal Pradesh's capital Shimla.

"More than 500 people gathered in the village this [Saturday] noon for the ritual. People who got injured and bled, smeared the forehead of Kali (a deity in a temple) with their blood," fair organiser Jagdeep Singh said.

The origin of the fair dates back to the 18th century when a human sacrifice was done to appease Kali. Later, this practice was stopped and the deity was appeased by putting a "tilak" of human blood on her forehead. Jagdeep Singh — a member of the royal family of the erstwhile princely state — said yesterday stone-pelting took place between residents of Halog village, once the capital of Dhami estate, and Jamog village.

Royal family

People, dressed in new attire, lined the grassy slopes. Members of the royal family of the erstwhile princely state stood on one side, facing the villagers on the other.

People pelted the royal family with stones after the arrival of the deity of Narsingh temple, housed in Dhami's palace, at the Kali Devi temple in the village.

The stone pelting started around noon and lasted for about 30 minutes.

As per the belief, a devotee who gets injured in stone-pelting is considered a devotee of Kali, Singh added. The one-day fair was attended by many locals and tourists.

Joe Mathew, a tourist from Mumbai, said: "It's unique and amazing. In the fair, both rich and poor participate without any vengeance."