Thousands of devotees gathered at Dhami village here on Friday to celebrate a unique stone-pelting festival to appease the goddess of power Kali. The residents of Shimla congregated at Dhami village to celebrate the century's tradition of throwing stones at each other, which is organised just a day after the festival of Diwali.
The historic ritual of stone pelting involves devotees hitting each other with stones until they bleed. The blood is then offered to Hindu goddess Kali. The festival symbolizes victory of good over evil.
Young member of Royal family, Jagdeep Singh, said that the festival was initiated by a queen to ban and replace the ritual of human sacrifice. "Earlier, there used to be human sacrifice in this festival, which was later stopped when the King died. The queen did not like the ritual of human sacrifice. Before performing 'Sati' (women immolating themselves on the funeral pyres of their husbands), she asked that human sacrifice should be banned," Singh said.
"Instead, a new stone-pelting tradition was started in which two groups form one side represents the members of Royal family and the other side represents the common man and it was decided that devotes will keep pelting stones until anyone is hit and starts bleeding. The blood will be then offered to Hindu goddess Kali," he added.
Devotees from different tribes participate in a procession, beating drums and playing flutes. They form teams and pelt stones at each other.
According to Hindu mythology, goddess Kali is the first of the ten incarnations of goddess Durga. Depicted with a fierce face and terrifying look, goddess Kali is regarded as more aggressive form and is known to destroy all evil for the cause of justice.
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