Mumbai: As Govinda pathaks practiced for the Gopal Kala festival on Saturday, teams from across the city created a record for successfully forming 153 human-pyramids in five-and-half hours at Wadala on Sunday.
The 'Gro Govinda 2025' competition organised on August 10 at the Bhartiya Krida Mandir in Naigaon, Wadala, by Aradhya Loksewa Pratishthan and Vijay Tandel, received a mention in the World Records Book of India.
Apart from giving an opportunity to teams to practice for the ultimate challenge on August 16, the event also gave the teams information about the safety precautions and equipment to prevent mishaps. The team member at the top of the pyramid, for instance, wore a helmet to prevent severe head injuries in case of a fall. There were crane-mounted pulleys to prevent a sudden toppling of the person on the top. The acrobatic formations are created to replicate Lord Krishna's childhood pranks.
As many as 170 teams had registered for the event, with 153 teams, including 25 women's groups, successfully building the human pyramids. This competition began with a demonstration by Bandya Maruti Mandal, Curry Road, the oldest Dahi Handi group in Mumbai, founded in 1950.
Chunabhatti's Prem Nagar Mandal got the top honour of breaking the Dahi Handi, Gro Govinda 2025. The Jai Jawan Govinda team from Jogeshwari successfully created a nine-tier pyramid. Most teams accomplished the task by creating tiers between five and eight. There were 25 women's teams among the participants. Sushma Narvekar, chief editor, World Records Book of India, "The game of Dahi Handi is a challenge for Govinda teams. They try to break the Dahi Handi built at a high place by making human towers. This requires unity, perseverance and coordination."
