A stone fair with unique traditions is celebrated with great pomp on the next day of Diwali festival in Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh.

Celebrated in a small village Dhami, 26 km from Shimla, the specialty of this fair is that people of two communities pelt stones at each other here.

It is believed that in Dhami princely state human sacrifice was performed every year on this day in the temple of Mother Bhima Kali. The queen of the Rana family who ruled here wanted to stop this sacrificial practice. Earlier, male sacrifice was done here.

Once the queen became sati here. Since then the male sacrifice was stopped. After this the animal sacrifice started. It was also closed several decades ago. After this the stone fair was started.

The fair starts after offering prayers in the temple of Shri Narsingh Bhagwan by the Raj family members, and after that they all leave for Khel Ka Chauraha with drums where the game is to be played.

The Raj family is accompanied by people from the Katadu, Tundu, Dagoi and Jathoti groups, while the other group consists of people from the Jamogi group. In this, the local people of nearby villages gather near the memorial of Maa Sati.

After worshiping both the teams’ start the game of stone. It is not thought that anyone gets hurt in the fair, but the people involved in the fair shed blood due to stone throwing, it is considered good luck.

That's why instead of staying behind in the fair, people go ahead and try to throw stones at the people on the other side. The game continues until the head of either of the two teams is bled. After this happens, the game ends and the blood of the said person is offered in the temple of Goddess Bhima Kali.

The tradition that has been going on for years has been celebrated by the residents and the royal family with reverence and devotion and will continue to celebrate.