mumbai:
The Dahi Handi celebrations kicked off this morning in Mumbai with great joy and enthusiasm as thousands of participants and spectators gathered to celebrate the occasion.
Dahi Handi is part of the Krishna Janmashtami festival, celebrated on the occasion of Lord Krishna’s birthday. During the festival, ‘Govindas’ or Dahi Handi participants form multi-tiered human pyramids to break ‘dahi handis’ (earthen pots filled with curd) suspended in the air.
Dahi handis decorated with flowers have been raised many meters above the ground at various housing associations, roads, intersections and public areas in the city.
Dressed in colorful clothes, Govindas visited these places in trucks, tempos, buses and two-wheelers.
Popular Bollywood songs about the festival blare from loudspeakers in every nook and cranny of the city, with the party atmosphere being particularly high in Marathi-dominated areas like Parel, Lalbaug, Worli, Dadar, Bhandup, Mulund, Goregaon and Andheri.
In recent years, some Dahi Handi events, supported by politicians in Mumbai and neighboring cities, have become famous for the high prize money, celebrity presence and entertainment programs hosted there. These Dahi Handis attract huge crowds and a steady stream of Govindas.
Police officials said they have tightened security arrangements in the city to avoid public order problems during the festivities.
According to a statement from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), it has prepared 125 beds in public hospitals for the treatment of the Govindas if they are injured after falling while making human pyramids.
The municipal body has deputed health officials and staff in three shifts to treat the Govinda in the public hospitals. In addition, these hospitals have been instructed to keep injections, medicines and surgical equipment ready, the press release said.
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