Govinda sport

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Govinda Sport has its origins in the 'Dahi Handi' (Dahi-Curd, Handi-Earthen Pot) festival which is very popular in the Maharashtra state of India.

'Dahi Handi' is an Indian festival that comprises making a human pyramid and breaking an earthen pot filled with milk, curd, butter, fruits and water and known as a 'handi' or 'matki', which is hung at a convenient height. It is organized on Krishna Janmashtami every year to celebrate the birth of the Lord Shri Krishna all over the state of Maharashtra, India.

The term Govinda is used to refer to the people who participate in forming this human pyramid. The participants form a pyramid consisting of as many as 9-tiers, and are given three attempts to break the earthen pot.

Every year thousands of people gather at Mumbai and Thane's big 'Dahi Handi' events. The prize money for the events usually range between Rs. 1 lakh-2 crore depending on the organizers and its sponsors.

Legend

During childhood Lord Shri Krishna and his friends in Vrindavan, the village where Lord Krishna was brought up, used to form a human pyramid to break the 'Dahi Handis' hung in their houses in order to steal the curd and butter from them. The reason for Lord Shri Krishna stealing curd and butter from the Handis was that during King Kaunsa's rule (Lord Krishna's maternal uncle) small children of Vrindavan village were deprived of healthy milk products produced in their villages as their parents were forced to send all milk products produced in Vrindavan to King Kaunsa's Mathura village. .^{[citation needed]}

Popularity and big stakes

Over the years the 'Dahi Handi' festival has become very famous in Mumbai and Thane due to following factors:

Increasing involvement by political parties in organizing 'Dahi Handi' events
Proliferation of 24-hour TV news channels and their 24-hour live coverage of 'Dahi Handi' events
Increase in sponsorships by corporates to 'Dahi Handi' events for advertising their brands
Growing competition among political parties in bringing Bollywood's leading celebrities to 'Dahi Handi' venues
Organizers raising the height of the earthen pots and increasing the prize money for breaking the high-hung pots.

World records

In 2012, one of Mumbai's leading Govinda groups, namely the Jai Jawan Govinda Pathak from Jogeshwari, had made an entry into the Guinness World Record and the Limca Book of Records by forming a human pyramid of 9-tiers (43.79 feet tall) at the Dahi Handi event held in Thane.
In 2010, the Jai Jawan Govinda Group of Jogeshwari had featured on BBC World News channel in its weekly feature programme-'India Business Report'.

References

External links

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