Three-day famous Shandoor polo festival that was rescheduled due to Eidul Fitr, now kicks off in Chitral at the world highest Polo ground.
The official of Tourism Corporation Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (TCKP) told APP that the schedule for the festival has finalised after consulting the district administration of Chitral.
The festival regularly held each year from July 7 to 9th but this year Eid-ul-Fitr is likely to fall on those dates due to which the schedule was changed.
Shandoor Polo Festival is one of the big festivals in Pakistan.
The polo which is played between the polo teams of Gilgit- Baltistan and Chitral, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is experienced as a free-style polo match.
Passion for Polo will be the highest on the world’s highest Polo ground. Every year, Shandur invites visitors to experience a traditional polo tournament between the teams of Chitral and Gilgit.
The festival also includes Folk music, Folk dance, traditional sports.
Polo was introduced in South Asia, by the Muslim conquerors in the 13th century. English word `Polo” is, in fact, a Balti word meaning, “ball”.
In ancient times, there was no limit to the number of players and no time limit. Which team scored nine goals first, became the winner.
Today, there are six players on each side, but this is by no means a rule in local polo games. The game lasts for one hour with a ten-minute break.
Chitral, Gilgit and Skardu have always played the game of polo closest to its original form.
Fixing the dates for Shandur festival this year was worse than Mufti Muneeb ur Rehman sighting the Eid ul Fitr moon. The KPK tourism experts rescheduled the festival 4 times yes Four times. Least caring that holiday makers had to cancel their tickets and pay a fine. The officials had a year to plan the festival unlike our good Mufti who has to do it on the spot and gets it right. Yet a week before the festival people were still unsure of the dates. Can you please fix the dates for the next couple of years or do we seek our Muftis help for this too.
Comments are closed.