New world record of playing damru set in MP's Ujjain

Bhopal, Aug 5 (PTI) A new Guinness World Record was created in Madhya Pradesh on Monday under the 'largest damru ensemble' category as nearly 1,500 persons played the small power drums on the Mahakaleshwar temple campus in Ujjain, officials said.

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav congratulated the people for setting the new world record.

Around 1,500 persons played the damru together on the campus of the temple, one of the 12 jyotirlingas in the country, in an event organised by Shree Mahakaleshwar Temple Management Committee and the MP government's Culture Department.

Nischal Barot, a consultant for the world record attempts, told PTI that more than 1,500 damru players attempted the feat and it was included in the 'largest damru ensemble' category in the Guinness World Records.

Earlier, the record of the largest damaru ensemble consisting of 488 persons was achieved by the Federation of Indian Associations in New York in August 2022, which has now been broken, he said.

Barot, however, said the number of damru players in the feat achieved in Ujjain was yet to be ascertained, but it was much higher than the previous one.

A new record was successfully created and a certificate was given by the Guinness World Records, he added.

Congratulating the people, CM Yadav said the wish to make the city of Baba Mahakal "resonate with the sound of damru has come true".

"On the third Monday of the holy month of Shravan, Ujjain registered its name in the Guinness Book of World Records by playing Damru on the tune of Bhasma Aarti, it became very difficult to put this wonderful and supernatural feeling into words," he said.

District Collector Neeraj Kumar Singh told PTI, "According to the wish of the chief minister, more than 1,300 persons played damru on the campus of the Mahakaleshwar temple and set a new world record, which we dedicate to the deity." People from other districts in addition to Ujjain also participated in this record-breaking event, he said.

Earlier, the record was set in New York by NRIs during the "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav", where 488 persons participated, Singh said. PTI ADU GK