Rural Olympics in Punjab - Kila Raipur - they embody the best of the Punjabi spirit which seems to have got lost in our bigger cities! <br /> <br />In what seems to be a loud and colourful crowd of people to the untrained eye, is a well thought out event that tops the calendar for many as a must see since 1933. <br /> <br />Or if you're from the braver species, to participate in. <br /> <br />The Rural Olympics as it is commonly known as, comes from the age-old tradition of the Punjab. Earlier referred to as the Kila Raipur Festival, this event takes place in an otherwise sleepy village near Ludhiana in February each year and boasts not only of interesting games, but also the astonishing will power of the participants... <br /> <br />...participants who range from the young in age, to the young at heart. With a 100meter race for 90 year olds, one cannot but admire the fitness of these grand old men. <br /> <br />The aim of the games, always has been to encourage a culture of a healthy body and mind. <br /> <br />The games played are listed under 3 general categories: rural games, modern sports and performing sports. Rural games consist of games like kabaddi, wrestling and weight lifting. The games better recognized generally like athletics, hockey, football, volleyball, cycling and handball fall under modern sports. The performing sports, for many the most interesting look into the Punjabi tradition consist of acrobatics, laying under a moving tractor, cracking stones by placing them on ones chest, bullock cart racing and a horse dance competition. Another stunner on the list of competitions is holding up a bicycle with one's teeth. <br /> <br />Controversy surrounded this, usually festive, event in 2012 when the bull cart race was banned following the accusation that the animals were treated cruelly during the race. This, even though the dog race carried on as usual. Bulls are not the only animals taking part in these games -- dogs, camels and mules also feature in the event. <br /> <br />This posed a problem for the organizers, as the bullock cart race is the most popular competition of the event, and has recently drawn participants from as far as Japan, who had earlier seen the race on television. The bullock cart race also offers a sizeable prize from the three-and-a-half million Rupees of the event budget, allocated for prize money. <br /> <br />The organizers asked the Government for more of an active participation to help reach a long term solution to sustain the old world charm the festival has, without animals being harmed in the process. <br /> <br />Whether seen as animal cruelty or an innovative way for the inhabitants of the area to show off their skills, Kila Raipur is an event not to be missed. <br /> <br />This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of HD imagery from South Asia. The Wilderness Films India collection comprises of tens of thousands of hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM / SR 1080i High Definition, Alexa, SR, HDV and XDCAM. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We are happy to be commissioned to film for you or else provide you with broadcast crewing and production solutions across South Asia. We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world... Reach us at rupindang @ gmail . com and admin@wildfilmsindia.com.
