Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the ‘Bagwal’ festival, in which devotees traditionally throw stones at each other, was held in a low-key manner at the Devidhura temple in Uttarakhand’s Champawat district on Sunday. During the festival, devotees were divided into four clans and hurl stones at each other in order to please the deity. Talking to India Today Khim Singh Lamharia, chairperson of the Devidhura temple committee said the festival lasted only seven minutes.
However, he stated that even in that short period of time, 77 out of a total of 300 devotees were injured.
Every year, the festival is held as a ritual to appease the goddess. But this year, as a precaution due to Covid-19, no administration personnel attended the festival, and no outside guests were invited, according to Lamharia.
He further added, “Bagwal was played with flowers and local fruits. A total of 1,250 local people witnessed it.”