A unique festival takes place in Devidhura village, north India, where Hindu devotees throw stones on each other.

The ''Bagwal Mela'', which means ''fight with stones'', is celebrated annually to please the local deity, goddess Barah Devi.

According to the local folklore, Devidhura village belonged to goddess Barah Devi. When the villagers were attacked by demons, they prayed to the goddess to save their lives. In return, the goddess demanded one human sacrifice every year.

A woman whose son was about to be sacrificed prayed to the goddess for mercy. The goddess rescued the man on the condition that people in Devidhura hurl stones at each other every year until one man's blood is spilt. Since then, people have been practising this custom. 

At least one hundred devotees have been injured in this year’s festival.

Bagwal mela celebrated by the villagers of Devidhura in the hill town of Uttrakhand during the day of Raksha Bandhan. Bagwal literally means "fight with stones". This unique festival is celebrated in Devidhura village in Champawat district in Uttrakhand on the day of Raksha Bandhan,which is located at a distance of 75km from Champawat district town.The Bagwal festival is celebrated on the day of Rakshabandhan. On this day the chief of village along with the priest of temple worship Maa Barahi. After the puja, Prasad is distributed among devotees and people were prepared for fight.The fighters enter the temple complex with sticks and a cover (farra) and revolve around the temple like a dance movement and sing devotional song. Some people beat drums, and some sing folk songs. Two groups then start throwing stones to each other and no matter how much injury has taken place, they won't stop until the priest ask them to do so after inspecting the proper amount of blood is shed for the goddess.Like the previous years`s,today`s celebration also bloodiest,injuring more than 100 Devotees. Devotees with serious head injuries have been shifted to the nearby hospitals for further treatments.