India is truly the land of traditional sports. Kho-kho, Kabaddi, Wrestling, and several other traditional games are played in several parts of the country. Most of these games have their roots in ancient India. Such is their popularity that these interesting games are played even today.
Hockey
The origin of Indian hockey dates back to the days of the Imperial rule. It was introduced in India by the British. Today the popularity of the game has made hockey the national sport of India. The impressive performance of the national team in various tournaments has boosted the popularity of Indian hockey.
Gilli Danda
Playing cricket or baseball with sticks instead of bat or ball is exactly what Gilli Danda is all about. It is called ‘Dānggőli’ in Bangla, ‘Vhinni-dandu’ in Kannada, ‘Viti-dandu’ in Marathi, ‘Kitti-pullu’ in Tamil, and ‘Gootibilla’ in Telugu. This sport is generally played in the rural and small towns of India. The game is played with a gilli and danda, which are both wooden sticks. The danda is longer (suitably handmade by the player) which one can swing easily. The gilli is smaller and is tapered on both sides.
Kancha
Once famous as a Gully sport, kancha was favorite of many young boys in town and villages nearby. It has its own modus operandi. It is played using marbles called ‘Kancha’. The players are to hit the selected target ‘kancha’ using their own marble ball. The winner takes all Kanchas of rest of the players.
Kite-Flying
Kite flying is one of the most popular and romantic games of India as well in Asia. Kites, known as ‘patang’ in India and the thread used is called ‘Manjha’, a glass coated line, and each flier attempts to cut every other kite out of the sky. The kite flying festival is celebrated on the eve of ‘Makar Shankranti’ in Jaipur as well as Gujarat state of India. Best in rest of India this game is struggling to save its long and historic existence.
Kho-Kho
Kho-Kho is a traditional Indian sport where the participants have to chase and catch their opponents in order to win the game.
Kabaddi
‘Kabbadi’ is an ancient traditional game played 4,000 years ago. To play this game, 12 people are needed on each opposing team in a play area of around 12.5m x 10m. There are no actual records of its origin, but historians strongly believe that this game was developed to help Indian soldiers to improve their self-defense skills. Each team occupies opposite halves of the field.
kushti
Wrestling in India is a traditional game, and has not succumbed to the competition from the various other indigenous games.Wrestling in India is said to be amongst the most ancient sports whose past is enriched with glory. The game of wrestling commenced its journey in India several centuries ago, during the middles ages.
Lattu (Spinning top)
Spinning top or Lattu was once the most popular street game of India. It is still played in some of the inner colonies of old city area of Udaipur, lattu is a part of life for children in Indian villages. The game involves spinning a lattu (top) – a solid ‘turnip shaped’ wooden toy with a grooved lower half with two nails dug at the top and the bottom. A cotton string is wrapped around the lower half of the ‘lattu’ to make it spin.
Satoliya
This game is loved by the maximum number boys and girls; it is a funny simple and inexpensive game. It needs seven small flat stones; every stone size should be less than the other stone. Put these stones over another in decreasing order its looks like a small tower then hit it by cloths made hand ball from a fixed distance. Any number of people can play it. This game is also known as Pithoo in some regions of India.
Gutte
In this Game stones are usually tossed into the air. then the fun begins. This games is played over the years by children in India and is still popular today.
Kith Kith
Hopscotch is a children’s game that can be played with several players or alone. Hopscotch is a popular playground game in which players toss a small object into numbered spaces of a pattern of rectangles outlined on the ground and then hop or jump through the spaces to retrieve the object.
Wikipedia, Udaipurtimes & Indianetzone
Isn’t it nostalgic and Lovable? Although we are in 21st century but we must spare some time for all round development of the human personality. As we know, present competitive age is not offering a family to sit together and to come close to each other, getting a chance to visit some garden or play some childhood games. This is leading to yet another potential threat to society, but present topic is not for the society but of us. I am sure after reading this; many of you would have gone down those memory lanes and recalled those beautiful moments again.
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