Coming soon: a chance to play your favourite childhood game

Lagori tournament to be held for adults in the city on June 19

Before gadgets took over all our free time, many had experienced the joy of indulging in a game that required little, but gave back much more. And if you are someone who has spent your childhood playing ‘lagori’ on your streets, you have a chance to win a prize for it.

Kreeda Bharathi (Bengaluru Mahanagara), a sports organisation, has organised a lagori tournament for adults in the city on June 19 at A.B. Vajapayee Rangamandira (Carmel school playground) in Padmanabhanagar. The registration process for the event has begun.

Lagori, also known as seven stones, is a popular game played in different parts of South India under different names. The game involves two teams —offenders and defenders, seven flat stones/tiles and a ball. The two teams participate in the demolishing and restacking of the stone pile throughout the duration of the game. Although there are no rigid rules, the game is usually played for points.

Kreeda Bharathi has organised this tournament with the intention to promote ‘desi’ (folk) games. They have also organised tournaments for kabaddi, tug of war, and other such games in the State in the past. “There is no person who has grown up in Bengaluru without playing lagori in their neighbourhood. We are just giving it a slightly more formal structure with this tournament. Rather than competition and prizes, we want to do this so that people can have fun playing,” said Madhav Hebbar of Kreeda Bharathi.

The games will be organised in two separate categories of men and women and registration is open to people from all parts of the city within the age group of 18 to 50. Each team should have ten players in total, including three wizards. The total number of teams and games will be decided post June 6 (last day for registration), said the organisers.

People in the city are also excited to relive their childhood days through the tournament. “I came across this tournament on social media. My friends and I played lagori for years together in our neighbourhood almost until we were 15-16 years old. This will be a chance for us to reunite as a team and play the game once more as adults”, said Sriharsha M., a resident of Vidyapeetha circle.

Those interested can call 98455 12621 or 9980565685 to register.