Bengali traditional games

There are a variety of traditional rural games in the historical region of Bengal (present-day Bangladesh and portions of eastern India). These games were usually played outside and with very limited resources collected from existing sources around their home. Many of them have similarities to other traditional South Asian games. Nowadays, with urbanization, many traditional games are being played less and less.

History

Some traditional Bengali games are thousands of years old, and reference traditional ways of life; for example, it is argued that some of the rhymes that used to be associated with the gameplay of Gollachut, in which players run from the center of a circle towards a boundary area to be safe from opponents, may refer to escape attempts by slaves during the Indus Valley Civilisation or afterwards.

Traditional games

Boli khela

Chungakhela

Players attempt to throw firecrackers at each other, with burn injuries being risked.

Ekka-dokka

One game, ekka-dokka ( bn, এক্কা-দোক্কা
), also known as guti,Traditional Sports and Games Culture Around West Bengal
Pallab Ghosh noveltyjournals.com is usually played among girls. It is played with a smaller broken piece of an earthen pot, it is called guti(গুটি) in local name. It may be rectangular or round flat type clay. A big rectangle box around three yards long is drawn on the soil and which again subdivides in six rectangular boxes. There have many others formant is present but all the format have the same number of boxes. Every boxes has the a common name like first box is called as EK-ER GHOR(এক এর ঘর), second box is DUI-ER GHOR(দুই এর ঘর) up to number of five box is account as it is, but last big semicircle six is called SAMUNDRA(সমুদ্র). Every boxes have some fixed points. The players stand before the starting line and rolling their guti into first box. Then this guti is turned by the toes of one foot into second, and second to third, in this way up to fifth box, after reaching the fifth box, she turn back her origin positing in same manner but revised direction . After completion one total turn, again she rolling her guti from second box. At timing of rolling the guti , the player is sing a ekka-dokka song A player can be declared as OUT if the guti fails on the line, wrong box, or if the gulti goes the outside total playing box, or she puts her both feet into the box.

Gaigodani

One player throws a stick hard into a muddy surface so that it becomes lodged upright in the ground, and a second player attempts to throw their stick so that the first stick either falls to the ground, or ends up parallel to the second stick. If the second player fails, the first player may attempt the same, with the two alternating until one of them succeeds. The winner of the two retains both sticks and then challenges a third player in the same fashion, and so on. Once one player has all the sticks, they throw them all away and hide their own stick, with each opponent attempting to retrieve a thrown stick and touch the hidden stick. The last opponent to o is the loser.হারিয়ে যাওয়া মজার খেলা
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Gulli danda

Gulli danda ( bn, গুল্লি ডাণ্ডা), also known as danguli khela, is usually played among boys. It is played with a smaller piece of wooden called GULLI (about 4 inches) and a two feet stick called DANDA. Gulli is placed on a small pit (four inches, is dug into the ground) to pushes gulli off by using DANDA. The opposition player tries to catch the gulli. Second player gets the changes to push the gulli if the first player is out by catch gulli or hitting the danda. If the first player is not out, then he gets the change to hitting gulli. It is done by two steps, first he try to hitting one side of the gulli to slightly bouncing for placing it in air, then he tries to hit the gulli to send as far as distance from pit with Danda. Mainly 3 hits is given for the bouncing the gulli. Player have to send the guli in far distance just using the 3 hitting. If he missing 3 hits, player will be declared as OUT and second player gets changes to push the gulli. Again the opposition players try to catch this flying gulli for out the player. If the player is not out any away of above motioned .then, he gets the points by measuring the distance between the pit and gulli (where gulli falls). Another interesting thing is that while the gulli is in the air, the player can also attempt to toss it a few times with the danda before finally hitting it away. It is called double (if two times hit) or triple (if three times hit).

Golap Tagar

Also known as Phul Tokka, in this game the players are separated by an equal distance from a dividing boundary line. Players are alternately blindfolded and then asked to guess which player on the other team has touched them on the forehead; when players guess correctly, they are allowed to take a jump forward. When a player guesses incorrectly, however, the opponent that touched them on the forehead instead gets to take a leap forward. The first team to get a player over the dividing line wins.

Lathi khela

Nouka Baich

Openti Bioscope

Two players form a "gate" by holding hands, and other players attempt to go through the gate before it is lowered (which usually occurs at the completion of a song sung by the two players).

Raja-chor-mantri-sipahi

Raja-chor-mantri-sipahi ( bn, রাজা-মন্ত্রী-চোর-সিপাহি ) is usually played among boys and girls. Usually four players are needed to play this game. Raja, mantri, chor and sipahi are written on four small chits of paper. Points are dedicated to these characters, usually Raja has 1000 points, mantra has 500 points, shipahi has 100 points and chaor has 0 points. After folding these chits are thrown in middle of the four players who then collect one each. The player who gets the Raja gives the order to mantri to find out who is chor from the remaining two players. Mantri gets points if he correctly finds chor, otherwise mantri's points will be zero and the points of mantri go to chor. Rounds continue this way and points are recorded in a note. To end, the points are tallied and the player with the most points is declared the winner.

Pull-and-push games

Ayanga-ayanga

One player (the "tiger") tries to leap forward and grab any of the other players (the "goats") to drag them out of the circle that they are stationed within. The last player remaining within the circle becomes the tiger in the next round of play.

Chikka

In Chikka, also known as "tug and trip", the two teams assemble across either side of a dividing line. Each team attempts to struggle with the other such that their opponents fall onto their side of the line.

Elating Belating

Two teams each form a line by holding hands and face each other, with each team stepping forward while saying various verses of a rhyme. Once the rhyme is completed by one team, they try to grab one of the players on the other team; victory is determined by whether the grabbing team can successfully take the opposing player away or not.

Morog Lorai

Players must hop on one foot and attempt to knock down other players to eliminate them, with the last remaining player winning the game.

Variations of tag

Baucchi

Baucchi (also spelled Bouchi or Boucchi) is a game where one player, the "bride", stays in an area some distance away from the "bride-snatching" team's area. The bride-snatchers can leave their area to tag players on the "bride-protecting" team and eliminate them, but the bride-snatchers must hold their breath while doing so; otherwise the bride-snatchers themselves can be tagged out by the protectors. Once the bride-snatchers have run out of breath and tagged out as many opponents as possible, the bride must run to the bride-snatchers' area without being tagged by the remaining protectors. In variations of the game, the bride may instead be considered an "old lady".

Borof Paani

Borof Paani is the Bengali version of freeze tag.connect2: Bangladesh
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Chhi-chhattar

One player (the "kite") is surrounded by all other players (the "cocks"), who form a human chain by holding hands. The kite can attempt to run out of the circle of players, with the first player to chase after and tag the kite becoming the kite in the next round.

Dariabandha

Gollachut

In Gollachut or Gollachhut, Players on the king's team start from a central location, forming a chain by holding hands, and then leave the chain, attempting to run to a certain point without being tagged out by the opponents.

Ha-du-du

Holdug

Holdug, also known as "tag me in water", is a game where one player dives underwater and the first opponent to tag them takes their place in the next round of gameplay.

Langdi

Langdi or Langdi tang is a game of tag where the tagger must hop on one foot, and the opponents must run within the confines of a small field.

Nuntaa

Tilo Express

This game is similar to hide-and-seek, except that the seeker must shout out the name of each person they find (and then the word 'express') to eliminate them, with the uneliminated players able to defeat the seeker by tagging them and shouting 'tilo'.

Others

Other popular rural games include:
* Guli ( bn, গুলি )
* Luko-churi ( bn, লুকো-চুরি ) - equivalent to hide-and-seek.
* Lattu ( bn, লাট্টু)
* Kanamachi - blindfolded tag
* Rumal churi ( bn, রুমাল চুরি ) - similar to duck, duck, goose, but with the circling player dropping a handkerchief behind one of the opponents, who has to pick it up before chasing the first player down
* Pittu/Satchada/Satchara ( bn, পিট্টু )
* Kumir danga ( bn, কুমির ডাঁঙ্গা ) - all but one of the players stand in a designated area, and they try to leave and stay outside of that area without being tagged by the player outside of it.
* Lathie chhora - Players climb up a tree, with one of them throwing a stick away from the tree, and one of the other players required to fetch the stick and then touch the tree. Meanwhile, all of the other players climb down the tree while trying to avoid being tagged by the stick-fetcher.

See also

* Traditional games of India
* Traditional games of Pakistan

References

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Sport in West Bengal
Sport in Bangladesh
Sport in India
Indian games
Bangladeshi games