MUMBAI: The Golden City of Amritsar is preparing to be dazzled by the charm of female govindas at Janmashtami. A group of 180 women from Mumbai will demonstrate a five-layer human pyramid at Gol Bagh grounds, near the Golden Temple of Harmandir Sahib, on September 6.

The troupe, which has previously toured Dwarka, Mathura, Jaipur, Udipi and Varanasi, belongs to the Gorakhnath Dahi Handi Pathak. It is the first female govinda mandal that was set up 19 years ago by the Pallavi Foundation in Kurla. Chaperoned by founder, Bhau Korgaonkar, the sportswomen left for Amritsar by the Golden Temple Express on Wednesday night.

The Maharashtra Sikh Association has organized the trip as part of a cultural exchange between Punjab and Maharashtra. Transporter Bal Malkit Singh, the association chairman, said, “Each year, during Holi, we invite kabaddi players from Punjab, Canada and the UK to demonstrate the ethnic Punjabi circle kabaddi at a high-profile two-day event at Nanded in Maharashtra, where our takht is. We recently decided that Punjabis too deserve to see the spectacular human pyramid, so we invited the Pallavi Foundation.” The cultural show includes a lavani performance at Khadur Sahib, near Beas.

The girls began practising at their regular site in Nehru Nagar on July 31, Guru Purnima day. Korgaonkar said, “We do not risk life and limb by attempting seven or eight tiers. Shortly after inception, we had decided that we will not allow the glamour of prize money and publicity to make us reckless. Money cannot compensate a lifetime of difficulty. Particularly girls, who suffer serious accidents or end up bedridden, face several problems owing to our social set-up.”

Gorakhnath’s participants range from age 12 to their late 40s. Senior member Nayana Pardeshi is an advocate. Korgaonkar’s wife Shalaka, who heads the mandal, holds an MBA. Another is a student of hotel management. “She practised hard but is disappointed she cannot join us as her college is conducting a tour to Rajasthan later this week. But her mother is in our team. The girl wept when she came to see us off at the station. A woman govinda who is engaged convinced her fiance to allow her, saying this tour was important for her,” Korgaonkar said.

“Given the Punjabis’ keen inclination towards sportsmanship, some may be interested in picking up rudiments of Dahi Handi. We are meeting schoolgirls at a parade during our stay, so they will surely have questions for us,” laughed Nayana Pardeshi.

