MP: Doctors, cops deployed at 'Gotmar' fest - All you need to know about stone-pelting event

Chhindwara: The rare Gotmar fair began in the Pandhurna tehsil of Madhya Pradesh's Chhindwara on Saturday. A team of doctors and medical staff have been deployed for the age-old stone pelting festival which kills many and injures hundreds of people every year.

The district administration has deployed security personnel and a team of more than five doctors for the smooth conduct of the fair  "Drones will be used and cameras will be installed to keep a watch over the venue, where section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) has been imposed," superintendent of police (ASP) Sanjeev Uikey said.

Story of the Gotmar festival

This rare festival is celebrated every year on the second day of ‘Bhadrapad’ New Moon day in the Pandhurna tehsil of Chhindwara.

The residents of the villages ‘Savargaon’ and ‘Pandhurna’ gather on either bank of the river ‘Jam’. A long tree is erected in the middle of the river with a flag at its very top. The villagers then start pelting stones at the persons of the opposite village who try to cross into the mid of the river and remove the flag on top of the tree trunk. The village whose resident succeeds in removing the flag will be considered victorious. The whole activity happens amidst the chanting of the sacred name of Maa Durga. 

The ritual was reportedly started around 300 years ago when a boy from Pandhurna abducted a girl from Sawargaon and faced a volley of stones when he was crossing the river with her. Villagers from Pandhurna came to his rescue, and he reached home safely with the girl, the legend goes.

(With PTI inputs)