Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 6 (ANI): Actress Mallika Shehrawat and Isha Malviya took part in a Dahi Handi festival in Mumbai, highlighting the cultural significance and community spirit associated with the Janmashtami celebrations.

Speaking at the event, Shehrawat praised the vibrancy of Indian festivals and called for greater support for Dahi Handi celebrations.

"Our Indian festivals are very unique and colourful. One such festival is the Dahi Handi Janmashtami festival. We must support these events with great enthusiasm and take them to an international level," she said while speaking to the media.

Malviya, who is from Madhya Pradesh, spoke about experiencing the scale of Dahi Handi celebrations after moving to Mumbai.

"I am from Madhya Pradesh, where Dahi Handi is not celebrated on such a grand scale. When I came to Mumbai, I saw how grandly the festival is celebrated here, with people gathering together to enjoy... I am very happy to be a part of it this year," she said, while speaking to ANI at another Dahi Handi event in Mumbai.

Dahi Handi is traditionally associated with the childhood story of Lord Krishna, who is popularly depicted as stealing butter with his friends. The celebration recreates the playful act through organised Govinda groups that form human pyramids to reach and smash a matki suspended several metres above the ground.

The festival follows the spiritual observances of Krishna Janmashtami. While Janmashtami centres on the midnight birth of Lord Krishna, Dahi Handi takes the celebrations outdoors, bringing communities together through music, competition and the reenactment of Krishna's childhood exploits.

Krishna Janmashtami is celebrated as the birth anniversary of Lord Krishna, the eighth avatar of Lord Vishnu. Observed on the eighth day, or Ashtami, of the Krishna Paksha in the holy month of Bhadrapada, the festival is marked by faith, devotion and community celebrations among millions of devotees worldwide. (ANI)