Tamil Nadu Traditional Sports: 10 Popular Games You Probably Didn’t Know

Tamil Nadu is a state in India, bundled with numerous cultures and tradition. But it has a unique culture, nature and food habits which attracts everyone easily. Every county or state has some unique sports, like that Tamil Nadu also has a list of sports. The sports that are played in Tamil Nadu will show their strength, knowledge, and will-power of every person who participates in the game. Here we listed some evergreen and traditional sports of Tamil Nadu.

List of Sports in Tamil Nadu

10. Gillidanda

The game Gilli Danda was originated from the rural areas and small towns of the Indian subcontinent. The game is played with two sticks; the large stick is called danda, which is used to hit the small stick, Gilli. This game is also like other bat and ball sports such as cricket, baseball and more.

09. Kho-kho

Kho-kho is a famous ancient game founded in Maharashtra, India. It is a 12 members game, but only nine players will be playing in the field. In this game, there are two-person, one is the runner, and another is the catcher. The running team person tries to avoid being touched by members of the catching team. It is one of the popular game played in schools.

08. Killithattu

Killithattu is one of the energetic game which shows our Tamil heritage and identity. The effective game requires rapid action, tactical thinking and amazing teamwork. The game has two teams one guards the base, and another tries to capture the base. A team of 6 members will play in the game; the last person of the team is called Killi who will stand in the centre of the first lane. The person called Kili can move anywhere around the court but not horizontally. The defence team has to plan properly and safeguard its territory.

07. Gusthi

Gusthi is the traditional game of Punjab, and it was practised a long-ago, and the people will have no memory of it. This sport is also popularly known as Kai Kuthu Sandai. The game gusthi is derived from the Tamil Nadu game Malyutham. Kushti is another traditional game emerged from North India, the name of the games are same, but they both have entirely different and distinct nature. Gusthi is the basic form of Boxing and Kusthi is the form of Wrestling.

06. Malyutham

The game Malyutham originated from Tamil Nadu which is an unarmed martial art. In ancient days, the game was mostly practised in the regions of Tamil Nadu. According to ancient literature, the art Malyutham is marked as one of the 64 arts of Tamil tradition. The first focus of the sport is physical fitness, and then the trainer will teach the Grappling techniques to their students. Another name of Malyutham is Marpor, and the game will be played in a circle of 30 feet radius filled with soft sand.

05. Sathurangam

Sathurangam is an ancient game of Tamil Nadu which is now called as Chess. In the game, they use four divisions of military forces named infantry, cavalry, elephants, and chariotry. To this modern era, all the four forces were changed as a pawn, knight, bishop, and rook. It is one among the most famous games of Tamil Nadu, and the state has produced various grandmasters in Chess. Viswanathan Anand, a versatile chess player from Tamil Nadu has won World Chess Championship for five times.

04. Rekla

Rekla is the form of bullock cart racing which is an ancient game of Tamil Nadu. The game shows the power of every person and their bullocks. This race is conducted as a part of Pongal celebration.

03. Jallikattu

Jallikattu is another sport that particularly conducted during the Pongal festival. The bull-taming sport was practised since Tamil Sangam period. The sport is also popularly called as eru thazhuvuthal and manju virattu. Pulikulam or Kangayam breed bulls are used for this game with proper training to show the strength and power of the people. In this game, people try to hold the large hump of the bull and the person who holds it for a long time is the winner.

02. Seval Sandai

Seval Porr is another name of Seval Sandai, which is a popular rural sport of Tamil Nadu. In this sport, owners of the cock will tie a long blade on its feet and start the fight between two cocks. After three or four rounds, withstanding cock is considered as the winner. The sport was mentioned in some historical literature like Manu Needhi Sastiram, Kattu Seval Sastiram and other Sangam literature.

01. Kabaddi

The state game of Tamil Nadu is Kabaddi. The sport is played between two teams where each team contains seven players. The name Kabaddi is derived from the Tamil name kai-pidi. Kabaddi is originated from the Vedic period of ancient India. In 1990, the game was added to the Asian Games’ programme.

These are the famous cultural sports of Tamil Nadu.

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