A few weeks ago, the first Janjatiya Khel Mahotsav was held at the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences in Bhubaneswar.
Key Points:
• The Ministry of Culture, the Odisha Government, and KIIT University all worked together on it.
•It brought together 5,000 athletes from 26 tribes and 1,000 leaders from 26 states.
Indigenous Sports
• Since “sports” is a state subject, it is mostly up to the State/Union Territory Governments to support indigenous sports in the country and run special training programmes to help traditional sports grow and get more people involved. The Union Government adds to what they are doing.
Mallakhamb, Kalaripayattu, Gatka, Thang-Ta, Yogasana, and Silambam are some of the indigenous games that have been identified.Further, the Ministry has also made documentaries of various indigenous games in order to showcase and promote/revive them, namely, Gatka, Roll Ball, Tug of War, Kalaripayattu, Thang-Ta, Kho-Kho, Mallakhamb, Shooting Ball, Sqay, Kabaddi, Gilli Danda, Sikkim Archery, Dhoop Khel and Cowrie Khel, Paika Akhada and Chhau and Akhada Kushti, Hekko, Mizoram Games, Silabam, Lagori and Langadi.
