Gokulashtami

People of Alibag celebrate every festival lovingly and religiously like other Konkan residents. Like other festivals, Gokulashtami is celebrated with great enthusiasm in the village temple. Bhajans are sung, the story of Krishna’s birth is told. Shri Krishna birth ceremony is celebrated at 12 o’clock in the night. Cradles, traditional Gavalnis, songs are sung and Janmashtami prasad is offered to all. In some villages, the week is celebrated from 7 days before and on the eighth day the birth ceremony of Shri Krishna is celebrated.

Gopalkala is the second day of Janmashtami. Kala means curd, milk, butter, poha (rice flakes), coconut, sugar and so on. It is called Dahikala. Lord Krishna collected all the children’s cowherds in Vrindavan and mixed all the food, hence the custom of making Dahikala and breaking of Dahihandi on the second day of Gokulashtami is performed. Krishna’s action is a message of equality by cutting through the inferior practices like discrimination, superiority and inferiority in the society.

Dahi Handi festival is celebrated with great enthusiasm in Konkan. All the youth gather and go from house to house singing “Govinda Aala Re Aala”, asking for water. Later, these teams gather in front of the temple and break the dahi handi, which is hung up high, by making a human pyramid layer by layer. Nowadays, public Dahi Handi are placed in the village squares and competitions and prizes are announced for breaking them. One by one Govinda team comes and tries to break this Dahi Handiby building towers and at the same time the men, women and girls of the village throw water on the Govinda team. The team that succeeds in breaking the Dahi Handi gets the prize. Such Dahi Handi is set up in squares and enthusiastic youth celebrate by breaking the Dahi Handi.

Dahi Handi at Kurdus – 

The Agri, Fishermen brothers of the village “Kurdus” in Alibag celebrate Dadi Handi in a different way. The young people of this village gather together and hang tall Dahi handi above the well. Later, the youths try to break the Dahi Handi by jumping over the edge into a well that is overflowing with water.

It takes a competition. The young boys, stacked one on top of the other, jump into the well together and try to break the Dahi Handi. The villagers give a prize to the group that succeeds in breaking the handi. The art of Dahi Handi breaking is like watching. All the villagers who are watching are encouraging the youth who are trying to break the handi. Drums are played in a traditional way to increase their enthusiasm. All the villagers participate in this unique game.