The district administration, in order to contain the number of injured in the festival, introduced rubber balls instead of stones in 2001 and 2002 but participants did not like them and switched back to stones in 2003.

The district administration arranged the stones and also made preparations to immediately treat the injured.

'We set up makeshift clinics in the close vicinity of the river,' said an administrative official of Chhindwara.

Although there are many stories behind the origin of the ritual, according to the one that has been accepted by everyone, a youth of Pandura village was trying to elope with his lover from Savargaon on a new moon night when the villagers of both the hamlets started throwing stones at each other, resulting in the death of the lovers. The fair is held every year in their memory.

At the end of the day, most of the 5,000 participants go to the temple of goddess Chandi, who, they believe, blesses them and makes their wounds heal quickly. They apply sacred ash on their wounds and later visit a temple of Lord Krishna and his consort Radha, so constructed that the first rays of the rising sun fall on the feet of the idols throughout the year.