Madhya Pradesh
MP Revives Pittu: Street Sport
- 13 Sep 2024
- 2 min read
Why in News?
Recently, the Madhya Pradesh government has added Pittu to the sports calendar of all Madhya Pradesh colleges for the academic year 2024-25.
Key Points
- Aim: To revive Pittu, a traditional Indian game, believed to have been played by Lord Krishna as mentioned in the Bhagavata Purana.
- Game Structure and Rules:
- Pittu is played on a 26m x 14m field with two teams of six players each (four substitutes allowed per team).
- The game consists of two halves, each lasting 10 minutes.
- The striker team knocks over a stack of seven coloured tiles (Pittu) and must reassemble it, while the defending team tries to prevent this.
- Significance:
- Pittu is believed to have originated in the southern Indian subcontinent.
- Revival of Pittu is part of the MP government’s effort to teach students about Lord Krishna’s life and connect them with Madhya Pradesh's heritage.
- The game gained renewed attention after the Prime Minister mentioned it in his Mann ki Baat speech in January 2021.
- Pittu was demonstrated during the National Games and even had a Lagori World Cup in 2015-16.
