Shandur Polo Tournament Playing Polo on the highest Polo ground 3738 metres above sea level
Every year a very unique Polo tournament is played in the Northern region of Pakistan. It is the world's highest Polo tournament and probably the highest sporting event in the world. The Shandur Polo Tournament is held every July for three days, and is arguably the most exciting Polo event that is found anywhere in the world. This is Polo in its rawest and most pure form; with almost no rules and no holds barred, just like the ancient civilisations used to play it.
The Shandur Polo Tournament is played every July in the high mountainous region between Gilgat and Chitral in the North West province of Pakistan. The Shandur Pass is approximately 3738 metres above sea level and is covered in snow during the winter months to reveal a lush green area during the summer months when the tournament is played. Just the fact that this event takes place so high above sea level makes it an amazing spectacle. The lack of rules element makes it even more exciting.
The game of Polo is said to have ancient origins. It was played in Central Asia as a pre battle training exercise. In those days more than 100 riders and their horses would compete in a pitched fierce battle to win the game by scoring the most goals. Legend has it that the famous explorer Marco Polo (who coincidentally shares his name with the game), introduced the game to the rest of the world upon returning from his travels into Asia and China. Just imagine what an ancient game of Polo with 100 participants must have been like. Horses and players crashing into each other and riders getting flung from their horses all led to the exciting nature of the game and contributed to the legend of this tournament.
The Shandur tournament is said to have started in 1926 when Pakistan was still part of India and the whole Subcontinent was under British rule. Colonel Evelyn Hey Cobb, who was a member of the British ruling elite, proposed the idea for a tournament to be held at Shandur, an area so close to the moon that he felt a match could even be played in the dead of the night by moonlight alone. In those early days of the tournament, the rules that were proposed were so scant and loose that frequent deaths occurred and the game from then on got a rough, free for all sort of appeal. This seems to be Polo at the closest to its original form that was played as a training exercise for war. The areas around Shandur; Chitral and Gilgit, have always played this same version of the game due to the fact that this was where the game originated from and it has more or less stayed pure to its traditions and origin. The game is so popular in this region that at one time half of the area's budget was spent on promotion and up gradation of the sport.
The Shandur Polo event is a tourist favourite, with many foreigners flocking to the area to witness a one of a kind tournament. Many of the local population also come to see the event but they come to see it for a deep seated love of the game. The tourists come to witness a unique and very pure Polo tournament played at the highest level in the world.
The legends and stories about Polo in the region are plentiful. An ancient legend is told about a king whose queen was kidnapped by the gods and he was ordered to sacrifice his two sons and ride an extremely fast horse through the Shandur valley hitting both sons' heads with a long stick. Obviously this story is not true, but makes for an interesting read, as does the fact that Ghengis Khan, the Mongol king, is said to have played the game of Polo with the heads of his enemies instead of a ball. Now that story might just be true.
A game that is still played in its purest form can be found hidden away in the beautiful mountains of Northern Pakistan in Shandur. An area ruled by violence and extremism for many years has now come out of the shadows and has gotten its wonderful game of Polo back. The locals will continue playing Polo this way for the foreseeable future and one day it might become so popular that people from every corner of the globe come to witness a historic and exciting game played so high that players can almost touch the stars.
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