The Kolanka Cup is a

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

trophy awarded in India. According to the

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

, it is the "tallest sports trophy in the world". It is named after the '' Rajah'' of ''Kolanka'' Sri Rajah Rao Pradyumna Krishna Mahipati Suryarao Bahadur who got it made as a polo player under his own team name, the Kolanka team. The '' Rajah'' of ''Kolanka'' was the 4th '' Raja Kumara'' of '' venkatagiri'' i.e. he was the fourth son of the 29th ''

Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

'' of '' Venkatagiri'' and the grandson of

Rajagopala Krishna Yachendra of Venkatagiri Maharaja Sir Rajagopala Krishna Yachendra (1857–1916) was an Indian nobleman and politician. He was the ''Maharaja'' of Venkatagiri in Nellore district from 1878 to 1916.He was the 28th ''Maharaja'' of Venkatagiri.M.L.C. (Madras) 1888 . ...

and was adopted by the childless ''

Rani ''Rani'' in Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, sometimes spelled ''Ranee'', is a Hindu/Sanskrit feminine given name. The term is the female form of the term for princely rulers in South and Southeast Asia and applies equally to the wife of a ...

'' of ''Kolanka''. The Kolanka Cup stands 6 feet tall and is made out of pure silver. When it comes to sports trophies, most competitors are more concerned with winning them than with appreciating their legacy. In polo this is particularly true, especially when the importance of competitions at which polo trophies are presented is not always reflected in how big, beautiful or impressive the prizes might be. Size for one, is irrelevant for polo prizes. The Queen's Cup – traditionally presented by Her Majesty The Queen at Guards Polo Club to the winners of England's second most important tournament – is the sort of small, plain silver bowl one might find filled with bon-bons on a sideboard in a stately home. This discreet royal prize is dwarfed by the six-foot tall Kolanka Cup, awarded to the winners of a humble competition in Chennai. Donated by the Raja of Kolanka between the wars (late 1920s or early 1930s), the cup is marked by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest sports trophy. While the Queen's Cup won't even hold a full bottle of celebratory champagne, it would take more than 27 bottles of bubbly to fill the giant Indian trophy. The Kolanka Cup towers above even the Coronation Cup. The last match for the Kolanka Cup is said to have been played in 1998. Since then the cup has been in storage.

References

http://hurlinghampolo.com/backissues/summer_2007/html/Hurlingham_e-Mag/page_41.html http://members.iinet.net.au/~royalty/ips/v/venkatagiri.html Indian sports trophies and awards Polo in India Sport in Tamil Nadu {{Sports-award-stub