Mumbai Gearing Up For 'Dahi Handi' With Helmets, Harnesses And No-Height Limit

Walking the streets of Mumbai on Janmashtami means walking through myriad of colours, throngs of people and sounds of screams of joy. Also, known as the ¡®Dahi Kala Utsav¡¯ in Maharashtra and ¡®Dahi Handi¡¯ locally in Mumbai, this occasion looks more like an athletic feat than a festival. Looking at human pyramids taller than your neck can possibly stretch, breaking the Dahi Handi seems more of a sports competition than celebrating Lord Krishna¡¯s little antics.

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Hundreds of humans standing atop each other forming a pyramid and breaking an earthen clay pot full of curd and flowers is a sight to behold. The groups compete on the festival of Gokulashtami to win the prize of having broken the pot at some of the highest points in the city.

The concept comes from the idea that Lord Krishna, as a child used to relish butter from clay pots that were hung high on the ceiling. The Lord and his friends came together and formed a pyramid to lift him up and break the pot. The ritual, however, took an unexpected turn over a period of time when people began to compete against each other in groups.

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It is well known that children well in their early teens have been a part of the ¡®matki¡¯ breaking competition. Meaning to relive the mischiefs played by Lord Krishna, younger children were chosen to break the high hung pots. Over the years, there have been many incidents across the country where little children have been injured while climbing on top of the pyramid.

The Bombay High Court recently removed the height restriction, making the mandals who organize dahi handi happy. These mandals are now looking towards the state legislative assembly for new directives about the limit of height which will be set for the ¡®Govindas¡¯ during the celebration.

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Bala Padelkar leads the Dutta Krida Mandal Mazgaon Taarwadi, and has been organizing Govindas for decades now. With a mandal with as many as 1000 members, Padelkar¡¯s mandal goes each year to break ¡®dahi handi¡¯ from South Mumbai to Navi Mumbai, covering major portions of the city.

Padelkar¡¯s mandal has been particularly happy with the Bombay High Court¡¯s decision, and the fact that it would lead to the safety of kids below 14. In 2016, the height of the dahi handi was restricted to 20 feet and the age of the ¡®Govinda¡¯ in the pyramid was 18 years and above. ¡°We have teenagers with us who practice well, however in a sport like this, nothing can be told beforehand. Therefore, we have decided to get insurances for extreme cases,¡± Padelkar said.

His mandal has insured themselves of Rs. 10 lakhs, which will cover the cost of any major injuries caused to the Govindas.

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The mandals feel that the High Court¡¯s decision to reduce the age limit from 18 to 14 has helped more teenagers come and be a part of the ritual that Gokulashtami has in Maharashtra. ¡°The mandals are now also investing in buying elbow and knee pads, harnesses, helmets and safety belts and have been practicing better in order to ensure complete safety of the person who climbs to the top. Our motto this year is ¡°Surakshit Dahi Handi Surakshit Govinda¡¯, which ensures the safety of all the participants.

There are hundreds of other mandals ¨C small and large - similar to Padelkar¡¯s who will be participating this year. With the festival of Gokulashtami falling on the same day as Independence day, the amount of crowd that will gather to witness can be expected to be bigger than the last year.

Padelkar said that this year, in order to ensure more safety for the Govindas, they will be reducing one layer in the human pyramid.

¡°We are focusing on the sentiment behind the celebration rather than the competition. The safety of each and every member of the mandal is more important than any prize money associated with the competition,¡± Padelkar told us.