India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

has several traditional games and

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

, some of which have been played for thousands of years. Many of these games do not require much equipment or playing space. Some traditional Indian games are only played in certain regions of India, or may be known by different names and played under different rules in different regions of the country. Many Indian games are also similar to other traditional South Asian games.

Overview

One common and unique characteristic of some traditional Indian games is that they have teams taking designated turns on offense and defense (sometimes known as

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

), with players of one team trying to eliminate opponents from play (known as getting the opponents "out" or "dismissing" the opponents) by touching them or through other means. These games generally end after both teams have had a certain number of turns to score, with each turn having a time limit or other control determining how long it lasts.

History

Kabaddi Kabaddi is a contact team sport. Played between two teams of seven players, the objective of the game is for a single player on offence, referred to as a "raider", to run into the opposing team's half of the court, touch out as many of their ...

and

kho-kho Kho kho or kho-kho is a traditional Indian sport that dates back to ancient India. It is the second most popular traditional tag game in the Indian subcontinent after kabaddi. Kho kho is played on a rectangular court with a central lane connec ...

may have had certain aspects of their gameplay mentioned in the

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

, which was written before 300 AD.

Atya-patya Atya patya or atya-patya is a traditional Indian tag sport played by two sides of nine players. It is more popular in rural areas of India. It is more commonly played in Maharashtra, a western Indian state. Atya patya is described as a "game o ...

is mentioned in the

Naṟṟiṇai ''Naṟṟiṇai'' ( ta, நற்றிணை meaning ''excellent tinai''), is a classical Tamil poetic work and traditionally the first of the Eight Anthologies (''Ettuthokai'') in the Sangam literature. The collection – sometimes spelled as ...

, written in 300 AD or before.

Traditional games

Gilli Danda

Gilli Danda Gilli Danda (also spelled Gulli-Danda) also known as Viti Dandu, Kitti-Pul and by other variations, is a sport originating from the Indian subcontinent, played in the rural areas and small towns all over South Asia as well as Cambodia, Iran, ...

is similar to many other games around the world, such as the English game of

tip-cat Tip-cat (also called cat, cat and dog, one-a-cat, pussy, or piggy) is a pastime which consists of tapping a short billet of wood (usually no more than ) with a larger stick (similar to a baseball bat or broom handle); the shorter piece is tapered ...

, and also has similarities to the popular Indian sport of

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

. It is a game where a player hits a short stick on the ground up into the air using a longer stick held in their hand. They then hit the airborne stick with the hand-held stick again so that it travels as far as possible. If a player on the other team catches the stick before it touches the ground, then the hitter is out (eliminated).

Nondi

Nondi (known by several other regional names) is a game similar to

hopscotch Hopscotch is a popular playground game in which players toss a small object, called a lagger, into numbered triangles or a pattern of rectangles outlined on the ground and then hop or jump through the spaces and retrieve the object. It is a ch ...

. In it, several connected boxes are drawn on the ground, and players throw some type of rock onto one of the boxes and then attempt to hop their way to the box the rock lands in.

Ball games

Seven stones

In the game of

seven stones ''Seven stones'' (also known by various other names) is a traditional game from the Indian subcontinent involving a ball and a pile of flat stones, generally played between two teams in a large outdoor area. History Seven Stones, one of the ...

(which is known by several other names in different parts of India, such as Lagori or Pittu Garam), one team throws a ball at a pile of seven stones to knock it over and then attempts to re-create the pile as fast as possible, while the other team tries to throw the ball at the first team's players to eliminate them from the game.

Maram pitti

Maram Pitti Maram Pitti also known as Picchi Banti (పిచ్చి బంతి) in Telugu, is an Indian version of dodgeball Dodgeball is a team sport in which players on two teams try to throw balls and hit opponents, while avoiding being hit themsel ...

is similar to

dodgeball Dodgeball is a team sport in which players on two teams try to throw balls and hit opponents, while avoiding being hit themselves. The objective of each team is to eliminate all members of the opposing team by hitting them with thrown balls, cat ...

; one player attempts to throw a ball from a stationary position at other players to eliminate them from the game.

Ball badminton

Ball badminton is a native game of India that is similar to

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...

Games involving simple objects

Marbles

Some Indian games involving marbles are also known as Kancha/Kanche or Golli Gundu. Several games are played involving players flicking marbles at other marbles, often in order to "capture" as many marbles as possible by the end of the game.

Gutte

Players throw a stone in the air, and then try to pick up as many of the remaining five stones on the ground as possible while making sure to catch the airborne stone before it falls.

Pambaram

In Pambaram (also known as Bambaram, Lattu, and other names), the game revolves around making a spinning top spin without falling for as long as possible.

Variations of tag

There are several Indian variations of the game of tag (sometimes referred to in India as "running and catching"), with

kabaddi Kabaddi is a contact team sport. Played between two teams of seven players, the objective of the game is for a single player on offence, referred to as a "raider", to run into the opposing team's half of the court, touch out as many of their ...

and

being the two most popular such games and being played in professional leagues ( Pro Kabaddi League and

Ultimate Kho Kho Ultimate Kho Kho (UKK) is an Indian franchise-based Kho kho league started in 2022. The inaugural season, consisting of 6 teams, took place from 14 August to 4 September 2022, with Odisha Juggernauts winning the season after beating Telugu Yod ...

respectively). Note: In many Indian

variations of tag Tag (also called touch and go AG tig, it, tiggy, tips, tick, tip) is a List of traditional children's games, playground game involving two or more players chasing other players in an attempt to "tag" and mark them out of play, usually by tou ...

, the player who is supposed to tag the other players is referred to as the "denner".

Kabaddi

, an offensive player known as the "raider" crosses into the other team's half of the court to try and tag as many of their players as possible. The raider must then return to his own team's half of the court without being stopped (tackled) by the opponents. If the raider makes it back safely, then he scores one point for every player he tagged; but if the opponents successfully stop the raider then the opponents score a point.Kabaddi: How to play India’s 4000-year-old indigenous sport
Olympics.com

Kho-kho

The

court is divided into two halves by a central lane which goes down the length of the court and connects two poles at either end of the court. All of the offensive players, except for the "attacker"/"active chaser", sit in the central lane. The attacker's goal is to tag the defensive players on the court in order to score points and eliminate the defensive players from the field. The attacker can not change direction once he starts running towards either pole, and also must not cross the central lane. However, the attacker can switch roles with a teammate by touching their back and shouting "kho".Kho Kho, a kabaddi-like sport linked with Indian epic Mahabharata - know all about it
Olympics.com

Langdi

Langdi Langdi was a script commonly used by traders used to write Haryanvi, Punjabi, or Saraiki in the Indian subcontinent . Bookkeepers, known as munīm ( hi, मुनीम, ur, ), would also keep records in this script. Some scholars have claime ...

is similar to tag, except that the offensive players are restricted to hopping on one foot while trying to tag players on the defensive team.

Atya-patya

atya-patya Atya patya or atya-patya is a traditional Indian tag sport played by two sides of nine players. It is more popular in rural areas of India. It is more commonly played in Maharashtra, a western Indian state. Atya patya is described as a "game o ...

, the teams each have two turns on offense and two turns on defense. The offensive team scores points by having its players cross as many of the nine "trenches" on the field as possible while the defenders (who are restricted to standing within the trenches) try to stop this by tagging the offensive players to eliminate them.

Chor Police

Chor Police (referred to as "cops and robbers" in other English-speaking countries) is a game where one team, the "Police", try to tag all the Chors (thieves) to put them into jail.

Dog and the bone

In Dog and the Bone (known by various names in India, such as "Cheel Jhapatta", and more commonly in other parts of the world as "steal the bacon"), there is an object placed in the center of the field, with two teams placed on opposite ends of the field. One player from each team rushes towards the object to try to take it back to their team; a point is scored either if a player successfully retrieves the object, or if a player tags an opponent who is holding the object before the opponent safely makes it back.

River or mountain

River or mountain, which is known as ''Nadee-Parvat'' in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

, ''Nadi ki Pahad'' in

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

in regional languages, it is a game where the field is divided into areas referred to as "rivers" and "mountains". At the start of play, the denner shouts out either "river" or "mountain", with all players then attempting to go to the areas referred to by the denner. While outside of those areas, the players can be tagged and eliminated by the denner.

Surr

Surr Surr ( hi, सुर्र) is a traditional Indian tag sport played in the areas around Ayodhya in northern India. See also * Atya patya Atya patya or atya-patya is a Traditional games of India, traditional India, Indian Tag (game), ta ...

, the offensive team tries to go around the four quadrants of a square without being tagged by the defenders, who stand in the lanes between the quadrants.

Chain tag

Chain tag Tag (also called touch and go AG tig, it, tiggy, tips, tick, tip) is a List of traditional children's games, playground game involving two or more players chasing other players in an attempt to "tag" and mark them out of play, usually by tou ...

involves the denner tagging other players, who are then required to form a chain with the denner by holding hands. Only the two players at either end of the chain can tag the remaining players (since they have a free hand not trapped in the chain.) The game ends once all players are part of the chain.

Lock and key

Also prominently known as Vish-Amrit/Vish-Amrut (Poison-Antidote), lock and key is similar to the Western game of

freeze tag Tag (also called touch and go AG'', tig, it, tiggy, tips, tick, tip) is a playground game involving two or more players chasing other players in an attempt to "tag" and mark them out of play, usually by touching with a hand. There are many vari ...

, in which the denner(s) can "freeze" opponents by tagging them, with the frozen players' teammates able to "unfreeze" them by tagging them. A unique feature of lock and key is that players may be required to shout out "lock" or "key", as appropriate, when tagging other players.

Aankh micholi

Aankh micholi is the Hindi name for

blind man's buff Blind man's buff or blind man's bluff is a variant of tag in which the player who is "It" is blindfolded. The traditional name of the game is "blind man's buff", where the word ''buff'' is used in its older sense of a small push. Gameplay Blin ...

(blindfolded tag).

Kokla chappaki

One player goes around all the other players, who sit in a circle, and eventually drops a handkerchief behind one of them. That player must grab the cloth and then attempt to tag the first player.

Four corners

Players attempt to run between the four corners of a square without being tagged by the denner, who is in the middle of the square. In a

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

variation of the game, Nalugu Stambalata, there is a pole in each corner of the square that the players must touch.

Gella-Chutt

One team has a king stationed at a distance from the "home". The goal of the king is to reach home without being stopped by the opponents, who themselves attempt to avoid being tagged out by the king's teammates, who start at home. A similar

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

game exists known as "Bouchi", in which the players must hold their breaths upon leaving the home in order to be eligible to tag the opponents; failing to hold the breath leaves a player at risk of being tagged out by opponents.

Tree-climbing monkey

The denner tries to tag players who can climb up trees to escape; these players can try to touch a stick kept within a circle on the ground in order to become safe from the denner.

Siya satkana

Siya satkana is similar to tree-climbing monkey, except that it does not feature tree-climbing.

Combat sports

Wrestling

Gatta gusthi

Pehlwani

Martial arts

Kalaripayattu

Silambam

Silambam Silambam is an Indian martial art originating in South India in the Indian subcontinent. This style is mentioned in Tamil Sangam literature. The World Silambam Association is the official international body of Silambam. Origin References in ...

revolves around participants fighting using bamboo sticks.

Board games

Carrom

Carrom is played on a small board, with gameplay similar to

pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky pool ...

and

billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . There are three major subdivisions of ...

(cue sports). The main unique feature of carrom is that players flick a puck-like object with their fingers in order to impact the other pieces on the board, with each of the four players having two designated lines on their side of the board between which they must flick/shoot their striking piece from.

Pachisi

Two of the alternative versions of Pachisi are Ludo and

Parcheesi ''Parcheesi'' is a brand-name American adaptation of the Indian cross and circle board game Pachisi, published by Parker Brothers and Winning Moves Games USA. Equipment ''Parcheesi'' is typically played with two dice Dice (singular die or ...

Lambs and Tigers

Snakes and Ladders

Snakes and Ladders originated from the Indian game of Gyan Chaupar.

Pallanguzhi

Pallanguzhi Pallanguli, or Pallankuli (, , , , ), is a traditional ancient mancala game played in South India, especially Tamil Nadu and Kerala. This game was later introduced to Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in India, as well as Sri Lanka and Malaysia. The ...

is a variation of

mancala The mancala games are a family of two-player turn-based strategy board games played with small stones, beans, or seeds and rows of holes or pits in the earth, a board or other playing surface. The objective is usually to capture all or some ...

Card games

Ganjifa

Boat racing

Vallam kali

Hiyang Tannaba

Other physical activities

Yoga

Mallakhamba

Mallakhamba or mallakhamb involves athletes doing yoga or gymnastic aerial postures while gripping a pole.

Kite-flying

Kite-flying is a popular activity in India, especially during certain holidays. In certain competitions, participants fly kites in an attempt to cut the strings of opposing participants' kites.

Events involving animals

Kambala

Kambala involves one person racing a pair of bulls across a

paddy field A paddy field is a flooded field (agriculture), field of arable land used for growing Aquatic plant, semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in sout ...

Jallikattu

Jallikattu features people attempting to grab onto and stop a wild bull.

Miscellaneous games

Antakshari

In Antakshari, participants sing songs, with the last letter of the song sung by one participant required to be the first letter of the next song sung by another participant.

Raja Chor Mantri Sipahi

Raja Chor Mantri Sipahi involves players taking on various roles, with points scored based on guesses by one player as to the roles of the other players.

Traditional games in specific regions of India

Yubi lakpi

Yubi lakpi Yubi lakpi is a seven-a-side traditional football game played in Manipur, India, using a coconut, which has some notable similarities to rugby. Despite these similarities, the name is ''not'' related to the game of rugby or Rugby School in Engla ...

is a traditional game played in

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of Myanm ...

with similarities to

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

Dhopkhel

Dhopkhel is a traditional game of

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

with similarities to

and

. One team throws the ball at a player on the other team, who then attempts to catch the rebounded ball and make it back to his own team's half of the field without being tagged by any of the opponents. The team that gets more of its players successfully through this process by the end of the game wins.

References

{{World topic, prefix=Traditional games of, noredlinks=yes, title=

Traditional game This is a list of games that used to be played by children, some of which are still being played today. Traditional children's games do not include commercial products such as board games but do include games which require props such as hopscotch ...

s Traditional sports of India Traditional games Indian games