Dahi Handi Festival: Dahi Handi 2022: Here’s everything you may want to know about the festival

The occasion of the birth of Krishna, famously known as Krishna Janamashtami, will be celebrated on Thursday (August 18), and people have already begun the preparations for this auspicious festival.

This year, Krishna Janmashtami will be celebrated on both August 18 and 19.

Krishna Janmashtami is also referred to as Utlotsavam and Gopal Kala.

People, who have been following the festival of Krishna Janmashtami, would be familiar with Dahi Handi, which is one of the most important rituals observed during Janmashtami.

Among other things, people are looking forward to Dahi Handi being celebrated in their locality or area.

History and Significance

There is an interesting story behind how Dahi Handi came to be celebrated during Janmashtami. Hindu mythology talks about Lord Krishna having a special liking for Makhan or white butter.

Milk and curd were two of the other things he loved dearly. As a child, his friends would join him in stealing milk, curd and white butter from the homes of the people living in their village. Because of this, people in his village started referring to him as ‘Makhan Chor‘ and ‘Navneet Chor‘.

There came a time when the villagers complained to Krishna’s mother about his stealing habits. Yashoda, Krishna’s foster mother, got very angry when she heard about this and decided to punish her son.

She also requested the villagers to hide the white butter and milk products in their home in an earthen pot and place it at a great height so that Krishna wouldn’t be able to steal them.

Such was Krishna’s love for Makhan that he managed to find a way out of this. With the support of his friends, he would build a human pyramid and then, climb up to a certain height so that he could break the handi and get his hands on the makhan kept inside it. The Makhan, derived from these handis would be evenly distributed among the friends.

Where is Dahi Handi largely celebrated?

To celebrate Janmashtami in style, Hindus organise Dahi Handi festival. While Dahi Handi is celebrated in most parts of the country, you will see great enthusiasm for it in states like Maharashtra and Gujarat. People make arrangements to hang the handi or the earthen pot at a height and then, a human pyramid is formed to break it. The handi is mostly filled with butter, curd, sweets, nuts and ghee.