“Dahi Handi or Govinda Sport is an Indian festival, celebrated every August, that involves making a human pyramid and breaking an earthen pot filled with milk, curd, butter, fruits and water, tied at a convenient height. This event is based on the legend of the child-god Krishna stealing butter. The child-god Krishna and his friends used to form human pyramids to break pots hung from the ceilings of neighbourhood houses, in order to steal curd and butter. This was in Vrindavan, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India, where Krishna was brought up. He used to distribute it among his friends because during King Kaunsa's rule (his maternal uncle), their parents were forced to give everything produced to Kaunsa's home in Mathura. The children of Vrindavan village were thus deprived of milk products.

The terms govinda (also another name of Krishna) or govinda pathak are used to refer to the people who participate in forming this human pyramid. They practise in groups weeks before the actual event. These groups are called mandals and they go around the local areas, attempting to break as many pots as possible during the event. Pyramid formation needs coordination and focus; the lowest layers consist of the most number of people, preferably sturdy, while the middle layer players need to pay attention to those below as well as the others standing on their shoulders. The outer layer individuals need to focus on maintaining balance. As lighter people are needed higher up, the topmost layer usually has a single child. Breaking the pot usually ends up with the contents spilling over the participants. Traditionally, spectators threw water on the participants to deter them and people chant in Marathi “Ala re ala, Govinda ala” (govindas have arrived). The pyramid formation is often accompanied by crowds, music and dancing”. – Wikipedia

Indian youth make a human pyramid to reach and break the “Dahi Handi”, an earthen pot filled with yoghurt, as they celebrate Janamashtami in Mumbai, India, Monday, August 18, 2014. Janmashtami is the festival that marks the birth of Hindu god Krishna. (Photo by Rafiq Maqbool/AP Photo)

Indian devotees pray before forming a human pyramid to reach and break a “dahi-handi” (curd-pot), on occasion of the Janmashtami Festival in Mumbai, India, 18 August 2014. Hindu devotees take part in the celebration in which an earthen pot is suspended high above the ground and groups of young men and children form a human pyramid to reach the pot and break it. The festival celebrates the birth of Hindu god Lord Krishna, one of the most popular gods in Hinduism. (Photo by Divyakant Solanki/EPA)

Indian devotees form a human pyramid to reach and break a “dahi-handi” (curd-pot), on occasion of the Janmashtami Festival in Mumbai, India, 18 August 2014. (Photo by Divyakant Solanki/EPA)

Devotees pray before forming a human pyramid to break a clay pot containing curd during celebrations to mark the Hindu festival of Janmashtami in Mumbai August 18, 2014. Janmashtami, which marks the birthday of Hindu god Krishna, is being celebrated across the country today. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)

Indian youth form a human pyramid to break the “Dahi handi”, an earthen pot filled with curd, an integral part of celebrations to mark Janmashtami in Mumbai, India, Monday, August 18, 2014. (Photo by Rafiq Maqbool/AP Photo)

People fall down as they try to form a human pyramid to break the “Dahi handi”, an earthen pot filled with curd, an integral part of celebrations to mark Janmashtami in Mumbai, India, Monday, August 18, 2014. (Photo by Rafiq Maqbool/AP Photo)

An Indian devotee lays unconscious after falling from a human pyramid on occasion of the Janmashtami Festival in Mumbai, India, 18 August 2014. (Photo by Divyakant Solanki/EPA)

Devotees tumble as they try to form a human pyramid, on August 18, 2014. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)

A devotee breaks a clay pot containing curd during the celebrations to mark the Hindu festival of Janmashtami in Mumbai August 18, 2014. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)

Indian Hindu devotees scramble to collect coins fallen from a broken dahi-handi (curd-pot) suspended in air during traditional celebrations for the Janmashtami festival, which marks the birth of Hindu god Lord Krishna, in Mumbai on August 18, 2014. Participants receive prize money by constructing a human pyramid tall enough to enable the topmost person to reach the pot and claim the contents after breaking it. (Photo by Indranil Mukherjee/AFP Photo)

Devotees try to form a human pyramid to break a clay pot containing curd during the celebrations to mark the Hindu festival of Janmashtami in Mumbai August 18, 2014. Janmashtami, which marks the birthday of Hindu god Krishna, is being celebrated across the country today. (Photo by Shailesh Andrade/Reuters)

Devotees try to form a human pyramid to break a clay pot containing curd during celebrations to mark the Hindu festival of Janmashtami in Mumbai August 18, 2014. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)

People watch as Indian youth form human pyramids to break the “Dahi handi”, an earthen pot filled with curd, an integral part of celebrations to mark Janmashtami in Mumbai, India, Monday, August 18, 2014. (Photo by Rafiq Maqbool/AP Photo)

People fall down as they try to form a human pyramid during celebrations to mark “Janmashtami” in Mumbai, India, Monday, August 18, 2014. (Photo by Rafiq Maqbool/AP Photo)