THE PEOPLE

GAMES AND SPORTS

A number of forms of recreational activity such as games, sports and amusements are traditionally known to the people and are in popular practice in the district for a long time.

Major Games: A number of major games, both western and Indian types, are played in Sholapur. Characteristically they require no elaborate equipment. Of the Indian major games, the well-known are hututu, khokho, langdi, atyapatya, viti-dandu and lagorya. These games, when popularly played, are played with regional variations. Standardised forms have, however, been evolved by institutions like the Akhila Maharashtra Sharirika Shikshana Mandal which are now almost universally adopted and strictly observed when the games are played in contested tournaments.

There are some talims and akhadas also all over the district which are traditional centres for training athletes, wrestlers and gymnasts and generally they provide facilities for exercise and physical culture. A talim is usually managed by a committee of panchas or notables of the locality concerned. A talim is conducted by one or two senior persons known as ustads or masters who are much respected by their disciples. As trainer-gymnasts they train young people who come to the talim for exercise and for learning wrestling and other athletic arts. In villages, the local temple of Maruti usually serves the purpose of the gymnasium but in towns, a talim usually has a building of its own. In its necessary paraphernalia could be included lathis, bothatis, farigadga, lezims, dandpattas, malakhab, karela, jod-jodis, hatte, heavy stone-balls and nalis (stone wheels) and sometimes dumb-bel and modern weight-lifting appartus. Every talim has hauda (wrestling arena). Sometimes, a talim also has open ground attached to it as a play-field.

For all people in urban areas the new entertainment that has become very popular is the cinema. Theatrical troupes also visit urban centres from time to time. They generally come from Bombay and Pune. Local troupes also occasionally perform plays and playlets. There are also music classes where vocal and instrumental music is taught. The radio-sets have now penetrated everywhere and they also provide a mixed fare of entertainment and instruction to rural and urban people alike.

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