Gautampura (Indore), Madhya Pradesh

Gautampura town, situated at a distance of about 50 kilometres from Indore, is famous for its ritual of a mock battle that is played out a day after Diwali. The ‘battle’ involves teams, generally from two different villages, and is fought by hurling gunpowder-laden burning shells (hingot).

Hingot is technically a firecracker made out of the shells of the hingot nut and filled with gunpowder. 

Despite its widespread reputation of causing injuries to dozens of men every year, the Hingot yudhh is a matter of pride for the inhabitants of Gautampura. The battle is played out at the premises of Devnarayan temple. This year the ‘battle’ is set to be enacted on November 5. 

While some trace its origins to ancient times, other accounts of its inception suggest that it evolved as a tactic of the guerrilla warfare practices by Maratha warriors against incoming Mughal raiders.

Vishal Rathi, former president of the Gautampura city council, told Gaon Connection that it all started in around 1700 CE as a reactionary tactic against the exploits of the Mughal troops in the area.

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“During the beginning of the seventeenth century, troops from the Mughal army used to raid our villages with the intention to pillage and loot. In order to combat these soldiers, the Maratha leaders used to fire Hingot shells at them and it also proved to be effective in repulsing the raiders,” Rathi said.

“So, in a way, the hingot yuddh is a matter of pride and a mark of self-protection for us,” he added. 

But some elderly people told Gaon Connection that the rash behaviour of the youth during the ritual has earned it the infamy of being violent and uncivilised.

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“I am 80 years old. I have never participated in this annual battle  but have been enthusiastic and watched it from a safe distance. The atmosphere during the battle is electrifying,” Tawji told Gaon Connection. “But these days, some young men get drunk before participating in the event and these things have spoiled the ritual’s reputation,” he added.

Shield and the bomb

On November 2 when Gaon Connection visited Gautampura, it found Pintu Gujjar preparing his hingots to be used in the battle on November 5. “We don’t just hurl these burning bombs on our opponents, we also have to defend ourselves against incoming hingots. So, we also use a shield to protect ourselves without which way more boys would get injured than the usual count,” the 25-year-old said.

“But I have never been injured,” he proudy mentioned.

Devnarayan temple’s priest Sanjay Gurjar told Gaon Connection that the combatants have a shield to protect themselves but the audience, mostly  villagers, often comes under the throws of these bombs and gets injured.

Rathi, the former city councillor, informed that there is no winning or a losing side in this battle. “But the boys who run out of the bombs escape the battlefield to protect themselves,” he said.

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Making of a hingot bomb

Hingot is actually the shell of a nut which grows on a wild plant called Hingoriyan. Its kernel is hard and the flesh is gently taken out of it by sharp tools following which the hollow spherical shell is filled with gunpowder and wrapped up with yellow soil. 

A wick is inserted to the bomb which is used to set it off. 

No battle for past two years

The ritual has garnered extraordinary fervour amongst the villagers this year as it was suspended for the past two years. In 2020, restrictions arising out of COVID19 outbreak prevented the mock battle from being fought. 

“There is no official permission for Hingot yuddh this year as well. But there is no restriction on the production, sale and buying of hingots. People have been asked not to observe this ritual due to Corona,” Ravi Kumar Singh, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) of Indore’s Depalpur area, told Gaon Connection.

But Barwani district, situated about 150 kilometres from Gautampura has banned the production, sale, buying and storage of Hingots from October 21 to November 21. 

Read this story in Hindi