Bagwal Festival India 2019: Over 120 people sustained injuries during a Hindu stone –pelting festival in India. Yep, you read that right, there were rocks flying everywhere.
The Bagwal Festival is a Hindu festival that is celebrated at the Devidhura Temple in Champawat, India on Raksha Bandhan every year.
This year, the festival happened on August 15.
During the festival, it is aimed to see bloodshed so seekers can please Barahi Devi, a goddess.
According to a local tradition, in the festival, blood that is equivalent to one human sacrifice should be shed.
Sorry to disappoint you lads, but the festival only lasts for around 10 minutes.
But in those 10 minutes, you can see people throwing stones at each other while thousands of spectators witness blood-shedding.
B C Joshi, the head priest of the Devidhura Temple in Champawat, India confirmed that over 120 people were injured during the festival this year.
During an interview, Priest Joshi explained the festival.
Priest Joshi said, “In old times, human sacrifice used to be made annually on the occasion to please the goddess. According to the legend, an old woman, who required to sacrifice her only grandson, pleaded with the goddess to spare him.”
He added, “Her prayers were accepted by the goddess, who appeared in dreams of her devotees and asked them to play Bagwal by pelting each other with stones and shed as much blood on the ground as can be considered equal to a human sacrifice.”
Well, that’s one festival I would want to see one day.