20/04/2013
Kila Raipur Sports Festival, popularly known as “Rural Olympics” is held every February in Kila Raipur, a village situated 20 km from Ludhiana, Punjab. Started in early 1930s, today this festival attracts more than 4,000 sportsmen and women. The three-day festival is witnessed by more than a million people. Traditional Punjabi sports like kabaddi, bullock-cart race, dog race, tractor race, tent-pegging, tug-of-war etc are played along with recognized sports like hockey and track & field events. Besides these sports, traditional rural feats like pulling of tractors with the teeth, holding & balancing a plough with teeth, lifting very heavy weights and scores of other incredible stunts are performed by local supermen. But the biggest crowd puller is the bullock-cart race. The farmers nourish and train their bulls round-the-year to win the coveted prize. Winning this top-draw event is a matter of great pride and is financially lucrative too – more than 3 million rupees is given away to the position holders. In the recent years, it has come under fire from animal rights groups who have called for a ban on these races. As a result, the event was not held in 2012 edition of the games, much to the disappointment of the crowds. But recently, Supreme Court lifted the ban on bullock-cart races and the flagship event made its comeback in 2013 Rural Olympics.
