On Thursday morning, Mumbai's Dahi Handi celebrations got underway with great pleasure and fervour as hundreds of participants and onlookers gathered to mark the occasion. Dahi Handi is a component of the Krishna Janmashtami festival, which honours Lord Krishna's birth anniversary. In order to break dahi handis (earthen pots filled with curd) dangling in the air, Govindas or Dahi Handi participants build multi-tiered human pyramids during the event.
Dahi handis decorated with flowers have been hoisted many feet above the ground at several housing societies, roads, junctions and public grounds across the city. Dressed in colourful attires, Govindas have been visiting these places in trucks, tempos, buses and two-wheelers.
Everywhere throughout the city, speakers are playing popular Bollywood songs about the event. Marathi-dominated areas like Parel, Lalbaug, Worli, Dadar, Bhandup, Mulund, Goregaon, and Andheri are especially cheerful. Due to the large prize money, celebrity attendance, and entertainment programming planned there, numerous Dahi Handi events sponsored by politicians in Mumbai and nearby cities have recently gained notoriety. Huge crowds and a regular stream of Govindas are drawn to these Dahi Handis.
Police officials said they have beefed up the security agreements in the city to avoid any law and order issues during the celebrations. According to a release by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), it has kept 125 beds ready at civic hospitals for the treatment of the Govindas if they get injured after falling while making human pyramids.