Madhya Pradesh adds street sport Pittu in sports calender of all colleges for its ‘revival’
According to the game’s rulebook, Pittu is played in 26 m by 14 m field by two teams of six players each (each team is allowed four substitutes).
Efforts to revive Pittu (a traditional game that goes by several names across India, including the generic “seven stones”) received a boost with Madhya Pradesh introducing it as a sport for all colleges in Madhhya Pradesh for the academic year 2024-25, according to a government circular issued on September 6, although the motivation behind this has less to do with the game than the fact that it is believed to have been played by Lord Krishna.
A similar circular will be issued for schools soon, said a state government official who asked not to be named.
“Pittu is one of the oldest traditional games of India…It is believed to have originated in southern part of the Indian sub-continent. Lord Krishna also used to play this game with his friends which is mentioned in the Hindu religious text Bhagavata Puran written 5,000 years ago,” said the note attached to the circular sent to all colleges in the state.
The note mentioned that after Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned about the game in his Man ki Baat in January 2021, state cabinet minister and BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya formed Pittu Federation of India to promote the sport. The federation was formed in February 2021.
To be sure, bodies to promote the game date back to 2008, and Goa, too has its own state level federation. The state also demonstrated the game during last year’s National Games. There has been a Lagori World Cup in 2015-16, and even an Indian Premier League style league, but the game has never taken off until now.
According to officials, this is the third such decision which has been taken by the Mohan Yadav led Madhya Pradesh government to motivate students to learn about life and work of Lord Krishna.
In June , Yadav announced that life and work of Lord Ram and Lord Krishna will be taught in school and colleges by including it in syllabus. “The MP government is going to develop Ram van Gaman Path and Krishna Gaman Path. We will teach students about the connection between Madhya Pradesh and the two Gods and they will be taken to these places on educational tours,” he said at the time.
In August , the general administration department (GAD) issued an order to organise lectures on various topics based on the life and philosophy of Lord Krishna by inviting scholars on the occasion of Krishna Janmashthmi.
According to the game’s rulebook, Pittu is played in 26 m by 14 m field by two teams of six players each (each team is allowed four substitutes). The game is played in two halves of 10 minutes each. The game revolves around a pile of seven different coloured tiles called Pittu, which has to be hit by a ball by a striker team. The striker team has to reassemble the pack in the same colour order and the defender team has to prevent this.
An education department official familiar with the matter said the sport will soon be introduced in all schools in Madhya Pradesh and an order in this regard will be issued soon.
“Pittu is definitely a sport which was played by every Indian but is it played in Olympics, Asian Games, or Commonwealth Games? Why does the government want to waste the time of students?” asked Kunal Chaudhary, a Congress spokesperson and former legislator.
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