Pony

Much has been done and praised the game,
As it is a game of the kings,
And the king of the games,
But none realized who really plays the main role,
Whether the horse who plays it,
Or the game polo, which can be played with only ponies,
Without the ponies, the polo would have never exist..
(niran)


A brief history of polo

HISTORY OF POLO

Sagol Kangjei (POLO)

The Manipuri Sagol Kangjei has been adopted by the International Community as Polo and is now being played worldwide. The 'PUYAS' trace it to the mythological age when the game was played by gods. The game is played with 7 players on each side mounted on ponies which are often not more than 4/5 feet in height. Each player is outfitted with a polo stick made of cane having a narrow angled wooden head fixed at the striking end. The ball, 14 inches in circumference is made of bamboo root. The mounted players hit the ball into the goal. Extremely vigorous and exhilarating, the game is now played in two styles - the PANA or original Manipuri style and the International style i.e. Polo. The ponies are also decorated fully with various guards protecting the eyes, forehead, flanks etc. The British learned the game of Sagol Kangjei in the 19th Century from Manipur after refinement it was transplanted to other countries as Polo.

POLO VS PONY

Many has been done and praise for the game

As it is a sport of kings

And the king of the games

But none realize who plays the main role

Whether the horse who plays it

Or the game polo which can be played

with only ponies

Without the ponies, the polo would have never existed.

Marg Williams

polonew.jpg

Marg Williams is our programs coordinator. She loves the outdoors and likes to vacation in Yosemite National Park.


ABOUT POLOS NOT PONIES

Polo is one of the oldest games. Scholars usually point out that the earliest forms of the game were played in ancient Persia, that it later spread slowly to the East. The name Polo is said to have derived from pulu, the Tibetan word for ball. The Moghul conquerors brought Polo to India. But it died along with the decline of the Moghul Empire in India.
Polo in Manipur had a different ancestry. Manipur, one of the 25 States constituting the Indian Union today, was not a part of India until 1949. All the major ethnic groups constituting the Manipuri people are of the Mongoloid stock and their languages belong to the Tibeto-Burman family. Polo is a part of their cultural inheritance, as waves of people migrated from southern China in the prehistoric times.
.................

Polo is one of the oldest games. Scholars usually point out that the earliest forms of the game were played in ancient Persia, that it later spread slowly to the East. The name Polo is said to have derived from pulu, the Tibetan word for ball. The Moghul conquerors brought Polo to India. But it died along with the decline of the Moghul Empire in India.
Polo in Manipur had a different ancestry. Manipur, one of the 25 States constituting the Indian Union today, was not a part of India until 1949. All the major ethnic groups constituting the Manipuri people are of the Mongoloid stock and their languages belong to the Tibeto-Burman family. Polo is a part of their cultural inheritance, as waves of people migrated from southern China in the prehistoric times.