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Stone-Throwing Festival Celebrated (Dhami, India)

Mal_Adjusted

Justified & Ancient
Joined
Aug 6, 2003
Messages
2,246
Hi

source:
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http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1179330.html?menu=news.quirkies

quote:
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Ananova:
10:17 Wednesday 17th November 2004

Stone throwing festival celebrated

Hundreds of people have been injured in an annual stone throwing festival at a remote mountain village in northern India

Residents of Dhami near Shimla divided themselves into two groups and pelted stones at each other

The group having the least number of wounded were declared winners reports Asian News International.

It is reported participants were extremely enthusiastic about the stone throwing ritual, which continued for more than an hour in spite of injuries sustained

Local administrators and police set up several makeshift medical camps to treat the bleeding victims.

Those severely wounded were taken to hospitals at Shimla for treatment

The 100-year-old event called Sati Pradha Mela marks the death of a local queen by Sati, an ancient Hindu custom whereby a woman immolates herself on the funeral pyre of her husband.

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Endquote

Mal F
 
"Sati, an ancient Hindu custom whereby a woman immolates herself on the funeral pyre of her husband. "

I recently read about Charles James Napier's wise (and extremely effective) words to Hindu priests who complained to him about the prohibition of Sati:

“Be it so. This burning of widows is your custom; prepare the funeral pyre.
But my nation has also a custom. When men burn women alive we hang them, and confiscate all their property.
My carpenters shall therefore erect gibbets on which to hang all concerned when the widow is consumed.
Let us all act according to national customs."

Sati somehow lost its appeal to the Hindu patriarchy after that!
 
The stone-pelting tradition continues to be observed. However, it was not performed this year (2020) owing to COVID pandemic restrictions and concerns.

The (or perhaps only one ... ) objective of the event is to produce blood to offer Kali. This year blood was produced by cutting fingers rather than flinging stones.
Centuries-old tradition of stone-pelting in Himachal's Dhami given a miss amid COVID-19
ANI
15 November 2020

The centuries-old tradition of stone-pelting, performed by different groups in Himachal Pradesh's Dhami village to appease Goddess Kali, was given a miss this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ...

Annually two teams of people representing four clans on one side and one clan on other throw stones at each other. As per tradition, one group from Jathoti, Tunru, Daghoi and Karedu clans of the village and the other from the family of Jamogi clan pelt stones at each other.

When one of the persons participating in the event gets injured, blood is offered to the goddess. This year, no stone-pelting was observed and blood was offered by cutting fingers. ...

People believe that the erstwhile queen of Dhami sacrificed herself to end the practice of human sacrifice and asked people to start a fair in which people of two clans will throw stones at the sky and continue until someone is hit, and the blood of that person would be then offered to the Goddess Kali. ...

FULL STORY: https://in.news.yahoo.com/centuries-old-tradition-stone-pelting-234648634.html
 
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