Age-old stone pelting Bhadrakali sacrificial fair held near Dhami 

The age-old stone pelting sacrificial fair at Chauraj Village near Dhami on Monday 28 yrs old wounded with stones perform the Tilak sanskar before the Bhadrakali.

It seems to be two groups rioting and pelleting relentless stones at each other but this was not annoying with anything and related to the state of law and order it was just the ritual in the Dhami princely estate that continued for about two centuries. It is believed that earlier this stone pelting began every year a male sacrifice was made to Bhadrakali here, but the queen of Dhami state performed Sati (suicide in the name of ritual) to stop the human sacrifice.  About two centuries ago the queen of this principal estate ordered to stop male sacrifice before Sati took place. After this animal sacrifice started. This too was closed many years ago. After this, the stone fair was started. When a person bleeds after being hit by a stone in a fair, his tilak is applied on the platform of Goddess Bhadrakali. 

From the side of the royal family, a group of Tunad, Jathoti, and Katedu families, and from the other side, members of the group of Jamogi family from opposite sides throw stones at each other. In the game, the Jamogi community pelts stones from one side of the Sati memorial built in Chauraj village and the Katedu community from the other side. The fair begins with the worship of Narasimha of the royal family. 

On Monday, people pelted stones at each other in Dhami of Shimla in Himachal. Stone pelting continued between people of the two communities for about 15 minutes. After this, Tilak was applied on the platform of Mother Bhadrakali with the blood of 28-year-old Dalip Thakur of Jamodi village.

It is noteworthy that every year in Dhami, about 30 kilometers away from Shimla, on the second day of Diwali, people from two different Parganas (areas) shower stones on each other. This process continues until one person bleeds. After this, the fair concludes by applying tilak on the platform of Bhadrakali with the blood of the injured person.

The tradition of injuring someone by throwing stones has been going on for centuries and even in today’s age of science, people are carrying it without a gap every year. Hundreds of people from the area participate in it and people from far and wide reach Dhami to see it.