We can guarantee two things after reading this article. For one thing, you’ll learn a few things you never knew about your country. And for another, pole vaulting at the world Olympics is going to look like a cakewalk after these pictures.
A three-day competition held in Punjab every winter, called the The Indian Rural Olympics, are meant to be a true celebration of culture. This year was the 77th edition of the games. Here are 10 interesting things we learnt from the crazy competition and its crazier events.
1. All the participants are fucking insane
If they’re not being athletic beasts, being willingly run over by farm machinery or bullock chariot racing, then they’re displaying other completely abnormal displays of strength and interests.
2. The craziest ones look innocuous
Somehow, they manage to look totally inconspicuous while doing absolutely insane things. We don’t even want to know what this sweet, old man is going to get up to once he’s found his position.
3. They have a lot of ‘alternative’ uses for tractors
Obviously, there’s no dearth of tractors in rural areas, but it would be so boring if they were only used to plough the land. No, instead, they use them in the Rural Olympics to run over people or have participants pull them with their teeth.
4. Participants have extraordinary dental strength
For everything that’s been said about Indian rural areas not receiving the right nutrients with their dietary intake, one thing is for certain – they’re getting enough calcium! Several participants are well capable of pulling tractors. They’re lifting three bicycles or lifting 21 bricks at a time. And you thought opening a beer bottle with your teeth was impressive.
5. Someone needs to introduce them to gymnastics
This man is balancing a farm plough on his mouth. Clearly if he applied those same skills to a balancing beam or a vaulting horse, he might just give half of China something to worry about.
6. History lessons first
The Indian Rural Olympics is a three-day-long competition held every winter in the state of Punjab. 2013 marked its 77th year. It was founded in 1933 by a philanthropist named Inder Singh Grewal who wanted to create an event in which famers could compete against each other and simultaneously preserve Punjabi culture.
7. The Name Game
It’s formally referred to as the Kila Raipur Sports Festival and competitors’ age ranges from teenagers to pensioners.
8. A number-cruncher’s guide to these Olympics
Over one million people attend each year and up to 4,000 sportsmen and women participate.
9. Prized winnings
From Ghetta Pathar to Khidu to Bullock cart racing to tent pegging (picking up an object with a javelin while on horseback) to having stones broken on their chest to everything else we mentioned above, the sports festival has become a draw for its borderline-insane and completely unusual varieties of sports. Bullock cart racing, however, remains the biggest draw and the winner goes home with a big cash prize. Fair enough considering a good racing bull can cost as much as Rs. 1 lakh! Other prizes can be as minimal as a packet of ghee.
10. Between bullock carts and bombs
The Rural Olympics have suffered a few setbacks over the years, the least of which was not the banning of bullock cart racing. In the 90s, a bomb was planted, killing up to 25 people at the event. Still, they’ve kept it going and many consider this to be a culture that needs to be preserved at all costs.
Watch the video below to get a better feel for the games. They’re definitely worth adding to a holiday schedule!
This is an edited version of a Homegrown article that appeared on May 12, 2014.
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