Safety before religious fun

India's top court yesterday banned children from taking part in a popular but potentially dangerous religious festival in the country's west that sees young boys scale human pyramids.

The Supreme Court barred children aged under 18 from scaling the pyramids and restricted their height to six metres following a string of accidents in recent years.

The ruling comes ahead of the annual Dahi Handi festival in Maharashtra state next week that traditionally sees scores of boys hoisted to the top of wobbly pyramids in homage to Hindu child-god Krishna.

"Krishna didn't do acrobatics ... you cannot risk the lives of children," Justice Nageswara Rao told the court in New Delhi.

Crowds flock to the colourful spectacle in the state capital Mumbai where groups try to outperform each other with the highest pyramid, some reaching 13 metres.