Himachal Pradesh is Land of Gods indeed. The hill state has many unique traditions throughout the state including Pathar ka mela. These shall leave you amazed and bewildered at the same time. This Pathar ka mela or stone fair in which two groups throw stones at each other is held in Dhami, a small pristine and beautiful village in District Shimla.

Pathar Ka Mela Himachal Pradesh

Dhami Pathar ka mela is a unique event that has drawn attention not only in national but international media too. This fair is held at a distance of 35 Km from Shimla, the capital city of Himachal Pradesh. Usually Pathar ka mela Himachal Pradesh is held on next day of Diwali festivities.

Festivity and Religion

Festivity and religious ethos find a amazing blend in this Pathar ka mela as stones are thrown at each other for more than 15 minutes. A red flag is waved by the “referee” and the bloody event begins, so to say.

People from two villages who participate in this Pathar ka mela only stop when any one person from those among participating gets hit and blood begins to ooze out from this wound. The moment blood begins to ooze out, the mela is stopped and the person from whose wound blood comes is taken to the temple and the blood in form of a small tilak is offered to Goddess Bhadarkali.

People from neighboring villages gather and watch this festivity with true devotion. The scion of royal family of Dhami offers his prayers at the temple and prays for goodwill and prosperity of the people from this region.

Shobhayatra or Religious Procession

A Shobhayatra or religious procession is also taken out on this festive occasion. Prayers are offered prior to Pathar ka mela at Raj Darbar in the temple of Narsingh Devta and Dev Kugran by the priests. As the procession reaches the Dhami Bazzar, villagers from opposing villages like Jania, Jamogi, Koti etc. participate.

From the royal family side people from villages like Tundu, Dhagoi, Bathmana and neighboring villages of Dhami region participate.

Photo by K S ARAVINDA Kashyap

Tradition behind Pathar ka Mela

Pathar ka mela in which stones are thrown at each other until the time any one person from the opposing villages gets hit has been going on since centuries. In the earlier times, to avoid any kind of misfortune for the people, the tradition of human sacrifice was quite popular.

In today’s time, this might seem unethical and cruel but in older days this was quite popular in different hill states of North India. With time, traditions changed, and these kinds of activities got banned.

In Dhami too, this tradition of human sacrifice was stopped by the Queen. In order to please the Gods and avoid any kind of misfortune for the region, it was decided that stone throwing festivity shall be done once a year after Diwali. This way, the tradition of offering blood smear to the Goddess was also maintained and human sacrifice was also stopped.

It has been the goodwill of this region and the magical powers of Goddess Bhadrakali who accepted such an arrangement. Thus, every year, this event is held at Khel Chaura in Dhami and the person who gets hit by the stone offers his blood smear to the Goddess.

Himachal Pradesh is indeed a devbhoomi and every region of the state has some unique traditions of this type. Pathar ka mela is one of these which not only keeps the religious ethos alive but also gives a glimpse of the rich cultural and traditional ethics of this hill state known as Himachal Pradesh!

Featured image courtesy: Photo by Kuldeep Singh