Himachal: Stone pelting festival back after two years of Covid pandemic

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], October 25 : Locals in Galog village near the Dhami area on Tuesday organized the centuries-old stone pelting festival after two years of Covid pandemic.
The stone pelting fair has long roots and is traditionally recognized for centuries in the North Indian hill state Himachal Pradesh.
The Galog village is nearly 30 km from the state's capital, Shimla.
The organizers were happy as they were not able to conduct the festival with great fervor and public participation due to the pandemic of Covid-19.
The villagers of two different clans of warriors gathered and offered prayers at the local temple. The local villagers held a stone pelting fair and prayers were offered at the main square here in the village. The clans of warriors gather at the identified and specially designed place for the stone pelting fair here. This fair is believed to be organized nearly 450 to 500 years ago to end the evil of human sacrifice.
According to the belief of the people, the erstwhile queen of Dhami province here sacrifice herself to end the belief of human sacrifice and before sacrificing herself she asked people to start a fair in which people of two clans will throw stones into the sky and will continue it until it hit somebody and blood of the person are offered to the Goddess Kali.
After the then-queen requested the villagers to celebrate the fair and not to offer human sacrifice, people had been celebrating this fair as a stone pelting fair. Thousands of people of the village gather each year here on the next day of Diwali festival to throw stones at people representing different clans. This year villagers are very enthusiastic as they were not able to conduct the fair. However, they did not break the tradition even during the pandemic but the masses could not participate.
The stone pelting fair had been celebrated here for centuries, this is a historic fair according to the locals' belief as we heard it is a nearly 400 to 500 years old tradition to end the evil of human sacrifice. It started with an effort to end the cruel tradition of human sacrifice. Annually a large number of people gather here to see the fair, the erstwhile queen of Dhami province here sacrifices herself to end the belief in human sacrifice and before sacrificing herself she asked people to start a fair in which people of two clans will throw the stone to the sky and will continue it until it hit somebody and blood of the person is offered to the Goddess Kali.
"During the pandemic, we offered prayers. 5-7 people among us went there, offered rituals and completed the tradition. People are again happy to celebrate this festive occasion with great fervor," said an organizer.
The organizers believe that this fair preserves tradition and culture. The youth here want to carry forward this century-old tradition and want to preserve this old tradition.

"We have been celebrating this old tradition, which is believed to start by the then Queen of Dhami to end human sacrifice. Annually two teams of people representing four clans on one side and one clan on the other throw stones at each other. In this stone-throwing fair on one side villagers from the Jathoti, Tunru, Daghoi and Karedu clans and on the other the family of the Jamogi clan throw stones at each other. Finally, one of the persons gets injured and blood is offered to the goddess. We could not organize this fair due to corona, but we did not break the tradition. As a member of the royal family, I wanted to support my people and I offered my blood to the Goddess during these two years of the pandemic. We want to carry forward this tradition, I am happy that I am preserving it and I want my children to follow and preserve this," said a member of the Royal family.
The elderly people are happy to see this festival for over six decades in the hill state.
"This fair has historic importance; I have been witnessing this fair for over 50 to 60 years now. The past two years have disappointed the people due to corona; people come from different areas here to see this traditional festival. ," said an elderly person.