By IANS,
Mumbai : More than 70 ‘govindas’, famous in Mumbai and adjoining Thane for forming human pyramids to break pots of curd hung high in bylanes on Janamashtami, were injured Monday and had to be taken to hospital, officials said.
Most of the accidents occurred in Mumbai. “Already 63 injured govindas have been admitted in our hospital and are being treated for minor to critical injuries,” a spokesman of KEM Hospital in south-central Mumbai said.
Some have been admitted to Bandra’s Bhabha Hospital in north-west Mumbai. “At least 10 govindas have been admitted there,” an official from the disaster management control room said. However, he said it was early to tell how many among the injured were critical.
In Thane, some in a group of ‘govindas’ were injured in their attempt to break the record of a nine-tier pyramid, according to the disaster management control room of the local municipality.
The young men who take part in this hugely popular and colourful spectacle called Dahi Handi in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra are known as ‘govindas’. The cash incentives for success are attractive and bring much enthusiasm to the occasion.