Over 400 injured in ‘Gotmar' festival in MP's Pandhurna district

Pandhurna (MP) More than 400 persons were injured, five of them grievously, during the annual ‘Gotmar’ or stone-fight festival in Madhya Pradesh’s Pandhurna district on Saturday, a police official said.

Two of the seriously injured persons have been rushed to Nagpur for advanced care, he said.

During this festival, residents of Pandhurna and Sawargaon hurl stones at each other as part of a tradition that has been followed for almost three centuries.

The fair starts with performing rituals at the feet of Goddess Chandika.

Legend has it that a boy from Pandhurna abducted a girl from neighbouring Sawargaon, and faced a volley of stones while crossing a river with her before residents of his village came to his rescue.

No abduction is involved now. Instead, rival groups from both villages gather on either side of the Jaam river, and race to snatch a flag hoisted on a tree standing midstream while stones are thrown from both sides.

Police monitored the festival with drone cameras and banned the use of catapults, weapons and liquor. More than 500 police personnel, several medical teams and 10 ambulances were deployed for the event, an official said.

Unlike previous years, no group could get the flag this time, and the festival committee declared the event closed after a mutual settlement.

Pandhurna Superintendent of Police Sunder Singh Kanesh said, “This year, the Gotmar fair ended with consensus from both sides. Over 400 people were injured, of whom five sustained serious injuries and two were referred to Nagpur.” More than 10 people had died in the stone pelting during the festival between 1955 and 2023. PTI COR LAL NR