Dahi handis will be raining money

The dahi handi is up for grabs like never before. Mumbai’s most popular sport of the season now has big-time sponsors making a beeline for it. With stakes climbing as high as over Rs100 crore, the Govindas are in a win-win situation.

The competition has grown so big that many of the 5,000 mandals in Mumbai refuse to disclose the prize money, but sources say that the amounts are “very high”. 

“We have not shut the door on additional sponsors,” said Satish Chavan, president of the Jogeshwari-based Balgopal Krida Mandal. “Our prize money of Rs11,000 will be jointly sponsored by the Shiv Sena, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and a social worker.”

Chintamani Sawant, an MNS office bearer, said that the sponsorship deal would be worth every bit of it. “It will be great publicity for us when the mandals travel across the city, shouting slogans and showing off our party colours,” he said.

Balgopal mandal’s general secretary Dilip Jadhav has no hassles about accepting money from more than one sponsor. “If someone approaches us, why should we refuse the money? All our sponsors stand united to celebrate the festival.”

Sangeeta Ahir, organiser of Sankalp Mandal at Jambori Maidan in Worli, said that her mandal’s dahi handi participants, who will scale an eight-tier pyramid, would each be given Rs25,000 and a motorcycle.