How the Gotmar Mela stone Throwing Festival is held in India, where people die

This year, the number of victims at the Gotmar Mela stone throwing festival in the central part of India was only 70 people. Apparently, the coronavirus has exhausted the Indians, because in the old days the number of stoned here reached up to five hundred.

This strange holiday is already several hundred years old, there are also cases of death among its participants. Believers annually appease the ruling deity with spilled blood. In 2013, the court ordered the Hindus to use flowers and fruits instead of stones, but they decided that the deity would not approve of such indulgences.

The Gotmar Mela Stone Wars take place in Central India every year. For several centuries, the inhabitants of the villages of Pandhurna and Savargaon, located on different banks of the Jaan River, have been coming ashore every year armed with stones. The cruel festival is associated with an ancient legend.

Since then, residents of the two villages have been throwing stones every year in memory of this wonderful event. During the festival, the villagers gather on the opposite banks of the Jaan and wait for someone to dare to pick up the flag placed on the top of a tree growing in the middle of the river. 

At this time, a hail of stones is flying at the daredevil from the other bank — thus he is prevented from reaching his goal. The fellow villagers of the brave man, in turn, try to protect their fellow countryman and throw stones at opponents. The winner of the year is the village whose resident was able to get the flag.

This is what the "festivities" looked like during the festival in 2016.

Local authorities have repeatedly tried to stop this tradition. In the early 2000s, the participants of Gotmar Mela were even offered to use rubber balls rather than stones, but none of the villages agreed.

On average, once every two years, one of the participants dies at an ancient festival. Hundreds of teenagers are injured every year. A police representative in 2017 told the media that 462 people were injured at that time, while 10 people were seriously injured, three of them are in critical condition.

Sometimes the event turns into mass riots. Participants smash ambulances and police cars, and law enforcement officers use tear gas.