Traditional games of India



India has several traditional games and sports, some of which have been played for thousands of years. Their popularity has greatly declined in the modern era, with Western sports having overtaken them during the British Raj, and the Indian government now making some efforts to revive them. Many of these games do not require much equipment or playing space. Some of them are only played in certain regions of India, or may be known by different names and played under different rules and regulations in different regions of the country. Many Indian games are also similar to other traditional South Asian games.

Ancient era
Kho-kho has been played since at least the fourth century BC. Kabaddi and kho-kho may have had certain aspects of their gameplay mentioned in the Mahabharata, which was written before 300 AD. Atya-patya is mentioned in the Naṟṟiṇai, written in 300 AD or before. Chaturanga is an ancient board game which experienced various modifications as it was transmitted from India toward Europe and became the modern game of chess. Some of these games were used for military training purposes; constant warfare between Indians/against invaders forced an emphasis on physical activities related to fighting. One example of this connection between sports and war was Abhimanyu's piercing of the Chakravyuha as depicted in the Mahabharata, which may have had a connection to the skills used in kabaddi and kho-kho.

Traditional Indian games served various purposes throughout and had various connections to Indian history; for example, certain aspects of the Bengali hopscotch game of ekka-dokka may have represented concepts of social division of property, kabaddi may have been used as a preparation for hunting, and the Bengali tag game of gollachut may have represented escape attempts by agricultural slaves during the Indus Valley Civilization. Hindu teachings placed emphasis on being physically fit, with the Kshatriya warrior caste in particular having to practice martial activities such as archery, while Buddhist teachings were more mixed; Buddha prohibited some traditional games which were considered to be causing negligence amongst people, though he himself played certain other games, such as archery and kabaddi. Buddhist monks, who generally shunned violence, adopted the use of Indian martial arts to protect themselves. Different activities were interrelated; the breathing aspects of kabaddi had connections with the pranayama breath-control techniques from yoga  (with kabaddi having been practiced by Buddhist monks), and the martial art of kalaripayattu was practiced in tandem with atya-patya by soldiers in Kerala.

Medieval era
During Mughal rule, some of the traditional games were greatly patronised and played in modified ways; for example, Akbar invented a version of polo which could be played at night by setting the ball on fire,  and played a magnified version of pachisi with courtesans acting as the pieces on the board. Wrestling was popular at the time as well, with Persian and Indian forms of wrestling merging to form pehlwani.

Colonial era
During the time of the British Raj, Indians began to focus more on playing British sports such as cricket, hockey, and football rather than their traditional sports. Part of the reason behind this was so that they could rise up the ranks by imitating the culture of the colonisers; later on, some Indians also started to see British sports as an activity in which they could "beat" their colonisers. The British also at times pushed for the growth of Western physical culture, seeing it as a way to increase the uptake of British culture and values in India and arguing that Indian men were naturally effeminate and thus needed a more European physical regimen (see Muscular Christianity).

A notable traditional sport which continued to be played during this time was polo, which the British helped to codify and support as an official sport. Some British board games, such as Snakes and Ladders and Ludo, were also inspired by Indian board games.

Some self-funded sports clubs, such as the akharas, vyayamshalas, and kreeda mandals promoted and organized competitions at various levels for traditional games during this time. The involvement of the American-led YMCA in South Asia resulted in some interaction between Indian and Western physical culture. Traditional games and practices which were considered to embody masculine values, such as kabaddi and kushti, were promoted as a way to resist British accusations of effeminacy; Sikhs in particular used their martial history as a way to distinguish themselves. Various traditional games began to be standardized during this period, and some of them were exhibited at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. Some traditional games, such as kho-kho, were also exported to places like the Caribbean, Africa, and other parts of Asia where indentured Indian servants had been taken by the British.

Post-colonial era
In post-Independent India, the traditional sports' popularity has greatly declined with the further growth of Western sports and online gaming. Kabaddi is the most popular traditional sport, with the highest viewership and most career opportunities; its growth was spurred on by the creation of the Pro Kabaddi League. Kabaddi's growth has led to it spreading outside of South Asia as well, with countries such as South Korea and Iran playing it. Kho-kho has also had a franchise league started for it, Ultimate Kho Kho; the Pro Kabaddi League and Ultimate Kho Kho are respectively the most and third-most viewed non-cricket competitions in India. Panja (arm wrestling) has a professional competition called the Pro Panja League; its exhibition events have received hundreds of millions of views on social media. Whereas in the past, traditional Indian games were often played on mud surfaces in rural areas, in the modern day they are often played on matted surfaces with changes to their rule sets and other aspects of their appearance to make them more appealing and exciting. Some traditional games are also being digitalized so that they can be played as video games (see Desi Adda: Games of India).

In addition, the Indian government is starting the Bharatiya Khel initiative to revive traditional Indian games with the view that they are more affordable for rural Indians to play, and are important for reviving Indian culture as well as increasing team spirit. It is also planning to introduce some games like kabaddi and kho-kho into the Olympics if it wins a bid to host a future Olympic event, such as its current bid for the 2036 Olympics. The Fit India movement has also contributed to the revival of traditional Indian games, with schools required to include such games as part of physical education.

At the state level, the Chhattisgarhiya Olympics is an annual Chhattisgarhi competition meant for celebrating traditional games; over 3 million people likely participated in the 2023 edition. The Qila Raipur Sports Festival has been celebrating traditional Punjabi sports since 1933.

The Association of Traditional Sports and Games, India (ATSGI) was formed in 2020 with the purpose of revitalizing and fostering traditional games and sports, operating under the guidance of the International Council for Traditional Sports and Games (ICTSG) endorsed by UNESCO. Padi Richo, president of the Arunachal Olympic Association, was unanimously elected as president of the ATSGI, with Aman Kumar Sharma in the position of Secretary-General.

Gilli Danda
Gilli Danda is similar to many other games around the world, such as the English game of tip-cat, and also has similarities to the popular Indian sport of cricket. 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. In it, several connected boxes are drawn on the ground, and players throw a rock or similar object onto one of the boxes and then attempt to hop their way to the box the rock lands in.

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 to win.

Variations of tag
There are several Indian variations of the game of tag (sometimes referred to in India as "running and catching" or pakdam pakdai), with kabaddi and kho-kho being the two most popular such games and being played in professional leagues (Pro Kabaddi League and Ultimate Kho Kho respectively).

Deciding who the denner is
In many Indian variations of tag, the player who is supposed to tag the other players is referred to as the "denner". There are a number of ways of determining which player should be the denner; one such method is Saa Boo Three (also known as pugam pugai), in which three players face one of their hands either up or down, and if one of them faces their hand the opposite direction of the other two, then that player is the denner.

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 centre 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, and Nadi ki Pahad in Marathi and other regional languages, 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.

Chain tag
Chain tag 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, 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 (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 variation of the game, Nalugu Stambalata, there is a pole in each corner of the square that the players must touch. In Maharashtra, the game is known as "Khamb-Khambolya".

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. Variants of this game are also known as "Surparambya" or "Surparambi".

Labbo-Daal
Also known as "kiss the stick" or "Soljhapta" in Bengali, this variation of tree-climbing monkey sees the denner attempting to rush back to kiss the stick after tagging another player, while the other players try to thwart the denner by picking the stick up and throwing it away before the denner can kiss it.

Chappa-pani
Players who are squatting can't be tagged by the denner in this game, but they can only stand up when touched by players who are standing up. This game is also known as Uthali.

Limbdi-pipali
Players can avoid being tagged in this game by climbing a tree.

Vagh-bakri
One player is the "shepherd", and all but one of the players, known as "lambs" or "goats", form a chain behind the shepherd by grabbing each other's waists. The lambs are required to remain in this chain formation. The last player (the "tiger") has to try to capture the lambs by getting around the shepherd, who is allowed to move around. Once a lamb is tagged, they become the new tiger and play restarts.

Board games
Indian board games have a long history, and have been found etched into the floors and surfaces of ancient temples throughout the country.

Carrom
Carrom is played on a small board, with gameplay similar to pool and billiards (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.

Kambala
Kambala involves one person racing a pair of bulls across a paddy field.

Panja (arm wrestling)
Arm wrestling is a popular pastime in India, with India having a professional arm wrestling competition known as the Pro Panja League.

Bhatukali
Bhatukali involves children playing with a mock set of kitchen items, with the intention of being taught how to do kitchen-related work. Bhatukali dates back to ancient times, as evidenced by its presence in literary works such as the Dnyaneshwari and Kama Sutra.

Dug dugi
Dug dugi is a type of rattle for children to play with. A dug dugi has a core with strings on either side attached to small stone-like objects; once the dug dugi is shaken, the stones hit the core from either side to make sound.

Gulel
Children often play with a slingshot ('gulel' in Hindi), which traditionally was also used for hunting purposes.