Shandur Polo Festival Gilgit Baltistan

 

Shandur Polo Festival

 

“Shandur Polo Celebration”: is a games celebration held every year from 7 to 9 July at Shandur Top in the chitral, of the Gupis-Yasin Locale of Gilgit-Baltistan. The polo competition is played between the groups of Gilgit Locale and Chitral Region, under free-form rules.
Coordinated and funded by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government, the competition is held at Shandur Top which is the world most elevated “polo ground” at a height of 3,700 meters (the actual pass is at 3,800 meters). The celebration likewise incorporates people music, moving and a setting up camp town is set up. The polo competition is highlighted in the main episode of Himalaya with Michael Palin.

                                                           Shandor Polo Festival 

History polo is an equestrian game originally played in Focal Asia in sixth century BC. Its goal was to prepare the cavalry and reenact a genuine fight.

The world's most elevated polo ground is in the little town of “Shindoor” in Pakistan. Situated at a height of 12,000 feet above ocean level, the ground sits in the shadow of the transcending Hindukash mountain range. The novel area of the polo ground makes it a famous objective for experience searchers and polo lovers.

In 1935, UK Director for Northern Regions Evelyn Hello Cobb requested Balti Raja from Skardu, Ali Sher Khan Anchan, and Nambardar of Chitral, Niat Qabool Hayat Kakakhel, to develop a polo ground in Shandur, which was properly finished with the assistance of the nearby populace. This polo ground was later on named as "Mas Junali". "Mass Junali" is gotten from Khowar language. "Mas" signifies moon and "Junali" signifies polo ground.
Cobb was intrigued by Kakakhail's cleverness and proficiency and wished to remunerate him for his administration, however Kakakhail wouldn't acknowledge any award for his work. All things being equal, for the normal advantage, Kakakhail requested that Cobb carry trout to stock the neighborhood streams. Cobb requested live trout from Britain and dropped them into the Ghizer Stream. Because of this help, the Directorate of Fisheries was laid out and many individuals were utilized. Presently, the mass of those fishes in "Hundarap Lake" arrives at 24 kg and in Baha Lake Khukush Nallah, their mass arrives at 40 kg. Subsequently, Mas Junali turned into a wellspring of association between individuals of Chitral Region in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and adjoining Gilgit-Baltistan.

Competition configuration and rules:
Free-styled mountain polo is ostensibly polo in its most flawless structure. This form of the game played at "Shandur Top" has achieved incredible status and is of extraordinary interest to global and homegrown experience sightseers the same. There are no umpires and there are no limits. In The Top of the World, Amin/Willets/Tetley state: "by correlation, an American Wild West rodeo could be mistaken for ensemble practice." As one player once referenced: "You can ride head-on into the adversary, if you think it wise."

“Polo in Pakistan”
To choose the last groups to play at the Shandur Polo Celebration, primer matches are played both in Chitral and Gilgit, in which the best ponies and players are picked for the last games by the neighborhood juries. The celebration starts on 7 July. Throughout the competition A, B, C and D groups of Chitral and Gilgit fight it out on the polo field. Each group has six individuals with 2 to 4 hold players if there should be an occurrence of injury and so forth. The match typically endures 60 minutes. It is separated into equal parts, with a ten-minute stretch. During stretches, local people excite the crowds with customary and social exhibitions. The game is ruled for the group scoring more objectives. The last is hung on 9 July.
The field estimates around 200 meters by 56 meters (a standard polo field is around 270m by 150m), with 60 cm high stone walls running the length of the field on the two sides rather than sheets. As six players make up one side, the field can become genuinely busy. This enjoys the benefit of marginally dialing back the speed, which, taking everything into account, is likely to some degree security improving. Players seldom wear head protectors, the ponies' legs frequently have no gauzes, and hammers frequently have no holds or lashes.