Impressed with India's Olympian daughters, chief minister Raghubar Das on Thursday urged Jamshedpur girls to participate in the dahi-handi competition during Janmashtami from next year.

Praising the achievements of shuttler P.V. Sindhu and wrestler Sakshi Malik, the chief minister during the prize distribution ceremony of this year's dahi-handi competition by Surya Mandir Committee at Sidhgora, announced that from next year girls' teams would be allowed to take part in the Janmashtami ritual.

He could have also been referring to ace gymnast Dipa Karmakar, who narrowly missed a medal but wowed the world with her agility.

"We have seen how women sportspersons have brought laurels for our country at the recent Olympics and there is no reason why we should not allow our girls to exhibit their prowess in this traditional competition. From next year, we will allow girls' teams to participate. The organisers will bear an expense of up to Rs 3 lakh for training them prior to the competition," said Das, who is also the patron of the committee.

For safety's sake, the participating girls will have to go through at least a week-long training in advance.

"Since it would be the first such instance of girls' teams participating in a dahi-handi competition in the city, I would like them to get trained by the organisers on the Surya Mandir Temple premises. They will have to enrol themselves at least a week before the competition," added Das.

The chief minister also called upon the youths to preserve traditions. "This competition is an attempt to preserve our ancient culture and more youths should be encouraged to preserve them," the chief minister said.

In this year's all-men's dahi-handi competition, Bagunnagar Baridih Basti team won the competition by breaking the pot in just 32.75 seconds. They received Rs 21,000 cash prize and a trophy from the chief minister. The second prize went to a group from Burmamines, which broke the pot in 33.69 seconds and received a cash prize of Rs 15,000 and trophy. The third prize with a cash prize of Rs 11,000 and a trophy went to Gorai and Son Group from Devnagar, Baradwari. They broke the pot in 37 seconds.

Altogether, 12 teams were in fray on Thursday.

Adhering to the Supreme Court's recent directive, the organisers had capped the height of the human pyramid at 20 feet this year while boys below 18 were barred.

Apart from the dahi handi, the day was marked by colourful presentations by children, dressed as Lord Krishna, and devotional songs.

The chief minister, who had arrived in the city on Wednesday evening, will leave for Ranchi on Saturday.