Chhindwara’s traditional ‘Gotmar’ fair sees fewer participants this time due to rain

Bhopal, Sep 16 (SocialNews.XYZ) Gotmar, a traditional fair of stones pelting in Madhya Pradesh's district Chhindwara, saw fewer participants this time due to continuous rain on Friday.

This time, the number of people who got injured in traditional stone pelting was around a dozen only, while in previous years the number of those injured used to be between 200-400.

The traditional war of stone pelting saw fewer participants this time because the bridge on Jam river where the people from both sides gather, was swollen due to heavy rain in Chhindwara.

‘Gotmar’ fair, a centuries old tradition of stone pelting between the people of two villages Pandhurna and Sawargaon of Chhindwara district is held every year on Bhadrapada Amavasya (the 15th day of the darker fortnight of Hindi month Bhadrapada).

According to a senior police officer camping in the area, even the magnitude of injuries were slight and not serious enough to be hospitalised in Pandhurna or be rushed to Nagpur (Maharashtra).

“Just a few people, including a man aged between 60-70 years had to be rendered treatment at the local hospital for injury caused by stone hits,” Chhindwara district police superintendent Vinayak Verma said.

The sunrise-sunset war of stones between the residents of the two riverside villages was toned down due to heavy rains, consequent rise in Jam river and additional measures by local administration, including ban on use gofan (slings used to shoot stones), closure of liquor shops since Thursday night and deployment of an SDERF team to prevent any mishaps in the swollen river.  

Previously in 2022, while around 200 people were injured in the annual stone war (unconfirmed reports put the figure at 400-plus), around 4-5 had to be rushed in serious condition to hospital in Nagpur for life-saving treatment. At least one of those persons whose life was saved by doctors in Nagpur, had suffered serious eye injury.

‘Gotmar’ fair, which causes injuries to hundreds every year has also reportedly claimed around 15 lives since 1955, owes its genesis to a mythological tale two young lovers (girl from Sawargaon and boy from Pandhurna) having been killed in the mid of the Jam river, after getting caught in stone-pelting by residents of the two villages.

Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, residents of the two villages had indulged in the war of stones, injuring 110 people and 250 people respectively.

Source: IANS