Traditional Games
Part of India's ancient culture are the traditional games and martial arts. These games are intensely enmeshed in the culture of the region and are aimed towards physi cal excellence.
Physical perfection has been an integral part of Hinduism. One of the means to fully realize one's Self is defined as the body - way or dehvada. Salvation was to be gained through physical perfection or kaya sadhana, possible only through perfect understanding of the body and its functions. The capstone of Hatha Yoga is strength, stamina and supreme control of the body functions. The zenith of the whole experience is the fusion of meditation and physical movement. The ' eight - fold method ' encompasses techniques associated with breathing control or pranayama, body posture or asanas, and withdrawal of the senses or pratyahara. Religious rites provided the needed impetus to physical culture in ancient India. Many of the present day Olympic disciplines are sophisticated versions of the games involving strength and speed that were common in ancient India and Greece.
During the era of the Rig - Veda, Ramayana and Mahabharata, men of a certain stature were expected to be well - versed in chariot - racing, archery, military stratagems, swimming, wrestling and hunting. Excavations at Harappa and Mohenjodaro confirm that during the Indus valley civilization (2500 - 1550 B.C) the weapons involved in war and hunting exercises included the bow and arrow, the dagger, the axe and the mace. These weapons of war, for instance, the javelin and the discus, were also, frequently used in the sports arena. Lord Krishna wielded an impressive discus or Sudarshan chakra. Arjuna and Bhima, two of the mighty Pandavas, excelled in archery and weightlifting respectively. Bhimsen, Hanuman, Jamvant, Jarasandha were some of the great champion wrestlers of yore. Women, too, excelled in sport and the art of self - defense, and were active participants in games like - fighting, quail - fighting and ram - fighting.
With the flowering of Buddhism in the country, Indian sport reached the very peak of excellence. Gautam Buddha himself, is said to have been an ace at archery, chariot - racing, equitation and hammer - throwing. The renowned Chinese traveler Hieun Tsang and Fa Hien wrote of a plethora of sporting activities. Swimming, sword - fighting fencing, as we know it today, running, wrestling and ball games were immensely popular among the students of Nalanda and Taxila. In the 16th century, a Portuguese ambassador who visited Krishnanagar was impressed by the range of sports activity, and the many sports venues, in the city. The king, Raja Krishnadev was an ace wrestler and horseman, himself.
The Mughal emperors were keen hunters of wild game, and avid patrons of sports, especially wrestling. The Agra fort and the Red Fort were the popular venues of many a wrestling bout, in the times of Emperor Shahjehan. Chattrapati Shivaji's guru, Ramdas, built several Hanuman temples all over Maharashtra, for the promotion of physical culture among the youth.
Kerala's martial art form, Kalari Payattu, is very similar to Karate. Those who practice it have to develop acrobatic capabilities, when using swords or knives to attack their adversaries, and even an unarmed exponent can be a force to reckon with. With the advent of Buddhism, this art form spread to the Far East countries. Buddhist monks who traveled far and wide, mostly unarmed, to spread the teachings of the Buddha, accepted this form of self - defense, against religious fanatics, with alternatives that were suitable to their philosophy of non - violence. The relationship between a student and teacher in the disciplines of Judo and Karate could trace its roots to the guru - shishya tradition, India was, and continues to be famous for. It is quite possible that some of our martial art forms traveled to China, Korea and Japan, but as in the case of Buddhism, atrophied in India.
The technique of Pranayama or breathing control, which is a prominent feature of Tae - kwan - do, Karate, Judo and Sumo wrestling was one of the many techniques spread in the Far East by Buddhist pilgrims from India. The idea that man enters into harmony with the five elements, through the science of breathing, is to be found in the most ancient records of Indian history. If mind and body are one, the possibilities of development of one's physical and mental capabilities are limitless, provided they are united and controlled. Using this as the foundation, Bodhidharma, a Buddhist monk started a new trend in the Shaolin temple in China, from which probably stemmed most of the rules and precepts that govern all martial art forms.
Festivals and local fairs are the natural venues of indigenous games and martial arts. Post - Independence the government made special efforts to preserve and nurture the awesome cultural heritage, by setting up a number of new incentives, and by heightening media exposure at the national level, to propagate and popularize indigenous games. Some of the traditional Indian games are:
Archery
One of the prominent and popular indigenous sports of the  state of Meghalaya is archery. Archery is an intrinsic part of the culture of the local people, and plays a principal role in their festivals. The bows and gut are made of a special bamboo, and are of varying lengths and sizes. The arrows are made from special reeds, topped with a pointed metal cap, using eagle feathers. The feathers are interwoven near the neck on four sides, this part of arrow - making being the domain of the women.
The target is made from a certain kind of grass, and is circular in shape, 8 to 10 inches high and 3 inches in diameter. The target is affixed on a thin bamboo pole, at a height of 3 1/2 ft from the ground. A notch is made at the base of the pole and any arrow hitting below the notch, is not counted for points. The distance exceeds 30 meters. There are three ways of conducting this contest: individual competition, team competition, and fast and slow shooting.
Hole Taso Dukanaram
Hole Taso Dukanaram is a rather peculiar game in which involves the imitation of an animal called Hole Taso. This animal is quite like a cat, and runs around beating its chest alternately with both its front paws. Another remarkable feature of this animal is its ability to hold a third leg in the air, while scampering around. Consequently, the game tests a contestant's overall balance, strength and coordination.
Hinam Turnam
It is called the struggle of life and death. In this game, the participants assume the role of the hunter and the hunted in the forest. The dilemma of the hapless hunter, who having missed the prey due to poor marksmanship, follows and catches up with it and seizes it by the third leg, is also part of the game.
Porok - Pamin Sinam or - fighting With one leg held in his hand and the other hand on his shoulder, the contestant has one leg to hop on, and achieve his objective of pushing his opponent out of the circle.
Any of the two players who falls to the ground, or loses his hold on his leg, or steps out of the circle, is disqualified.
Cricket
Cricket can claim a longer history than any other team game. Historians have attempted to trace its origin in various ball games played by ancient races and, even if some of these derivations are a little far fetched, we can at least say that 250 years ago the game was being played in a form not so very dissimilar from that of today. Hampshire, particularly the village of Hambledon, Surrey and Kent really pioneered this game that was later to be taken so seriously at the other end of England, though the great days of the Hambledon cricketers were somewhat later than our late 17th century starting point.
Cricket, like Hockey, was brought to the Indian sub-continent by the British. There are references to cricket having being played in India in the early parts of the 18th century. By the beginning of the 19th century the game was being played in the cities of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras.
Hockey
Hockey's birthplace is Asia and Persia is credited with having devised it about 2000 B.C. It is said that Greeks and Romans played hockey but nothing is known about the nature of the game that they played. The earliest mention of the present day game dates back only to 1527, when the Galway Statutes included 'hokie'- the hurling of little ball with sticks or staves in a list of prohibited games.
Modern hockey, as created in England, resembles closely games once popular in the British Isles and there is no doubt that hockey's immediate fore-runners were the Scottish shinty, the English and Welsh bandy an the Irish hurling.
The game has witnessed numerous refinements over the years. Among the earliest refinement was the prohibition of raising the stick above shoulder level.
Hockey became popular in India when the British Regiments played the game in India and introduced it in the British India Regiments who quickly picked up the game. The first hockey club was formed in Calcutta in 1885-86 followed by Bombay and Punjab. The Bengal Hockey was the first Hockey Association in India founded in 1908. The second was formed in 1920 in Karachi by the name 'Sind Hockey Association'.
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