Stoned Again 
2003 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance
It's not often you see a whole group of people competing to get an Honourable Mention or even a Darwin Award, but this one is an exception. No one to personally pin it on, but an Honourable Mention for the two villages, perhaps?
Stoned Again
Hundreds of people have been injured in an annual stone-throwing festival in central India.
About 600 people were reportedly injured, nine of them seriously during the Gotmaar mela at Pandhurna in the Chindwara district of Madhya Pradesh.
Residents in Pandhurna and Sabargaon, two villages on either side of the river Jaam, formed groups along banks of the river and hurled abuse and stones at each other.
The ritual, believed to be several hundred years old, commemorates the successful crossing of the river Jaam by the former king of Pandhuma after he had abducted the daughter of the Raja of Sawargaon.
Legend has it that the citizens of Sawargaon pelted the abductor with stones, causing residents of Pandhurna, assembled on the other side of the river, to respond. During the ritual, rival villagers throw stones at one another while trying to gain possession of a branch of the palash tree fixed to the river bed as a symbol of victory.
Reports say officials sought to introduce 10,000 rubber balls along with the stones to minimise the impact of injuries among the players. But the stock of balls ended within minutes and there were very few repeat takers for the balls.
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_666315.html?menu=news.quirkies Submitted on 09/08/2002
Submitted by:
Cupid Stunt
Reference:
Annanova, 28th August 2002
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