The Epical Connection
One of the oldest epics in the world is the Mahabharata, where Guru Dronacharya's name is engraved as a skillful trainer. Even today, the best trainer in India is awarded the Dronacharya Award every year in his name. The most interesting chapter of the Mahabharata is the eighteen-day bloody war between the Kauravas and the Pandavas. Incidentally, it is worth mentioning that on the 13th day of the war, Guru Dronacharya resorted to a new strategy, which is known as “Chakravyuh”. This is a plan to create an almost impenetrable battle, which if not broken, the Pandavas would have been defeated. Arjuna's younger son Abhimanyu was the only one who was able to enter this impenetrable Chakravyuh, but could not come out. Based on this incident, in the eighteenth century, one of the political figures of colonial India, Bal Gangadhar Tilak of Maharashtra, invented an unprecedented game, which is better known as Kho-Kho.
The Processes of Codification in Colonial India
As the British colonial influence grew in India, there was a concerted effort to formalize and codify traditional Indian games. Kho-Kho, along with other indigenous sports, was recognized as a valuable part of India’s cultural heritage. Efforts were made to standardize the rules and format of the game. Kho-Kho, the age-old thrilling game of chase, has its roots in Indian mythology. However, in 1914, Deccan Gymkhana, Pune. The first rule book for the modern version of Kho-Kho was written by Bal Gangadhar Tilak & Bhai Nerurkar (a local sport club) who changed the entire format to the present era. Incidentally, this year marks the centenary of contemporary Kho-Kho. Later on, in 1935, Akhil Maharashtra Shareerik Shikshan Mandal designed and implemented more specific and precise rules and regulations for the game. However, despite these rules, Kho-Kho was being played with slight variances, in the cities of Pune, Mumbai, Kolhapur, Nagpur, Satara, Nashik, Baroda and a few others. In order to introduce uniformity in the game, in 1943, Brihan Maharashtra Shareerik Shikshan Mandal, Delhi, brought all the Kho-Kho playing cities and authorities across the country together, under a common set of rules. The game of Kho-Kho was regularly being played all over India, especially in Maharashtra, West Bengal, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat, Andhra and Telangana. However, it was restricted to the states themselves as there was no apex organizing body at the national level, to look after the promotion of the game pan India. Later, in the year 1954, with the relentless efforts of the late Kashinath alias Bhai Nerurkar, (Mumbai), The Kho-Kho Federation of India was established at the Barabatti Stadium Odisha. Mr. Bhai Nerurkar became the first ever Secretary General of the Kho-Kho Federation.
The till then restricted boundaries of Kho-Kho soon vanished and the Federation helped the game take a quantum jump. The first ever All India Kho-Kho Championship was held at Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh in 1959-60 while the national championship for women was played in Kolhapur, Maharashtra in 1960-61. Kho-Kho was introduced at the University level and the first Inter – University tournament was held in 1955. The result was obvious. With all these efforts and the very intrinsic thrill and physical attributes and skill levels involved in the game, it was no surprise that the Central government, the States and the Union Territories, the School Games Federation and the University Grants Commission accepted Kho-Kho as a preferred game and included it in their list of approved games.
The game was showcased at the Delhi Asian Games in 1982. The first Asian Kho-Kho Championship was held in Kolkata in 1996. Later, it was registered as a competitive sport at the SAFF Games (2016) held in Guwahati.
The Current days’ trajectories of the Kho-Kho in State levels
More recently, one of the reasons for the popularity of Kho-Kho across the Indian subcontinent is the Ultimate Kho-Kho Tournament, which was started in 2022. In line with this, the Kho-Kho Federation of India has taken various steps to promote the game at the district and state levels. As a part of this, the Eastern Region Girls' Junior and Sub-Junior Kho-Kho Competition was concluded with pomp a few days ago in Haldia, East Midnapore district. A total of five states participated in this competition in both categories, namely West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand and Sikkim. Odisha coach Ranjan Behera, who won both categories in this competition, said, "As a district, our Balasore is very ahead in this game and as an institution, Kalinga Institute of Technology is doing very well." He hopes that many talented female Kho-Kho players will emerge from remote areas of Odisha in the coming days.
Bihar State Kho-Kho Association General Secretary Niraj Kumar was present during the competition.
He said, "Kho-Kho India President Sudhanshu Mittal and General Secretary Man Singh Tyagi have taken this sport a long way. Earlier they have successfully organized the Asian Championship, now they are going to organize the Kho-Kho World Cup. Our main goal is to internationalize Kho-Kho by including it in the Asian Games first and later in the Olympic Games". He further mentioned, "From now onwards, Kho-Kho India will distribute free mats and poles to each state association (each mat costs about Rs. 1.5 lakh). Kho-Kho players from different districts of Bihar will be able to play and practice on these international standard mats. As a result, they will get the opportunity to participate in various competitions regularly and by utilizing that, they will be able to elevate themselves to the national and international level."
West Bengal has shown promising results as the host state. The officials involved in the game of Kho-Kho have devoted themselves to bringing out players from various district-level competitions. In this regard, Balaram Halder, General Secretary of the West Bengal Kho-Kho Association, said,
"Since the launch of Ultimate Kho-Kho, almost every district of Bengal has started taking interest in this game." The Kho-Kho tournament for girls in the junior and sub-junior categories of the eastern region was held at the Durgachowk Vidyalaya in Haldia. The headmaster of the school, Tapan Kumar Jana, said, "Kho-Kho has been practiced in Haldia for quite some time. So they have developed a suitable infrastructure for this game. After the officials of the state organization inspected this infrastructure, they decided to organize this competition." One of the organizers of this competition and a former Kho-Kho player, Priyajit Samanta, said, "Various Kho-Kho competitions are being held in Haldia throughout the year." He hopes that the popularity of this game will increase further across India after organizing the Kho-Kho World Cup. Amrita and Geetu came to Sikkim as coaches and according to them, the people of Sikkim, Namche, Rumtek, Limdek regions have embraced Kho-Kho games. However, they are not ready to compete with national level teams right now”. They didn’t forget to acknowledge the magnificent role of Khelo India with Central Indian Collaboration to enhance the vitality of this game in Sikkim.
The Future Map and Kho-Kho World Cup of 2025
Next year's Kho-Kho World is scheduled to be held at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi from January 13 to 19. A total of 35 men's and women's teams will participate in the competition. The 12 teams from Asia are India, Bangladesh, South Korea, Iran, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Indonesia. The eight countries from Europe are England, Latvia, Poland, Germany, Netherlands, Scotland and Wales. Significantly, Canada and the United States will represent North America, while Peru will be the only country to showcase its South American heritage. Africa can claim the second-largest number of participants in the sport after Asia. Ten teams from the continent, once a shadowy continent under British colonial rule, will participate.
