60,000 people turn up to enjoy traditional games

MANSEHRA:

Over 60,000 people turned up to enjoy traditional games like stone picking, wrestling, kabaddi, and bull races, along with a gymnastics display by the students of Government High School No1 Mansehra.

The city was decorated with banners and billboards in connection with the sporting event.

In the stone picking event, a total of five teams took part. Mubashir Danga won the 116kg category, with Qamar Sultan and Jehangir Lotiwala coming in second and third, while in the 136kg weight stone picking contest, Mustafa and Taimur Khan were declared joint winners, followed by Muhammad Rizwan and Naveed Khan.

In the Gatka Bazi contest, three teams took part. Jamshed Khan won the battle, followed by Khurshid Khan and Sajjad.

Twenty-five players took part in the wrestling contest. Khan came in first, while Adeel, Abdulullah, Firdoos, Yasir, Waqas, Ghulam Qasim, Mudassir Anis, Ijaz and Fayyaz all got positions. There were traditional dances as well and those secured top positions joined them on the tone of dhol (drum) and surna (reed pipe).

The kabaddi match enthralled spectators and Kami Butt and Babar received awards for their superb performances.

The sporting event also featured food stalls, handicrafts stalls and cattle and farming displays.

Muhammad Azam, part of the organising team, said that the motive behind holding a traditional games festival is to provide healthy entertainment to the people of K-P and revive interest in traditional games. “It is a step towards the preservation of our centuries old traditions and culture,” he added.

He said before Mansehra they had organised similar activities in Dera Ismail Khan, Haripur and Lakki Marwat. He said the last event followed by a grand prize distribution ceremony will be organised in Peshawar, where the position holders of all the districts will be invited and will be given cash prizes and trophies.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th,  2011.