Only in India could you have a festival which consists of people creating huge human pyramids with the aim of hitting a clay pot full of yogurt or buttermilk (dahi) with a stick.
There is a religious basis to the festival; it is based on the legend of the child god Lord Krishna who used to make human pyramids with friends to steal butter. I'm not quite sure what the moral of the story is, or if their is one at all, but it's a lot of fun and is a particularly popular festival in Mumbai.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahi_Handi
Although the pot traditionally contains dahi, the main attraction these days is the prize money on offer for the teams that manage to smash the pots. Political parties and others put up fairly large cash prizes and lots of teams train for months to perfect their pyramids.
This is, though, a sport for the brave. Last year, several people died falling off the pyramids and many more were hospitalised. This year, a height limit of 20 feet has been imposed and people must be at least 12 years of age to compete. Based on what I saw on Monday, both these requirements were ignored, but the Tuesdays papers reported that there were zero fatalities from the festivities.
I was at work on Monday (no holiday for this festival sadly) but Phil picked me up at 7pm and we went to watch our local pyramid competition on Hill Road. As expected, it was loud, chaotic and exciting with a large crowd of people and pyramids springing up along the street. There is serious skill and strength in the pyramids and strategy is important. We didn't see a pot being broken, but a six person high pyramid is impressive enough.
Phil chatted to several locals and was invited to join a pyramid but he politely declined which was a relief.
Here are a few pictures of our experience:
Phil bonding with a local team
An unbroken dahi handi
The little boy on the top (a very small 12 year-old) had a helmet and, strangely, a life jacket. I assume to protect him in case he landed in a puddle of water...
This picture shows the climbing action up the side of the pyramid
The wobbly bit...standing up at the top
Standing tall
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