Polo on elephants in Sri Lanka: 14-02-2008
Residents of Sri Lanka's southern seaside town of Galle will once again be taking part in the sixth annual Elephant Polo Tournament this February. Anyone who has relished watching traditional British polo will surely appreciate the bizarre new dimension the sub-continent has added to the game, replacing horses with cumbersome, ten-foot tall elephants.
Elephant polo has been a favoured pastime of Indians since the early 20th century and has proven particularly popular on the neighbouring island of Sri Lanka, which now has its own governing body for the sport. While the first games made use of larger footballs in order to initiate players into the sport, standard polo balls quickly replaced them as the native population grew more adept and spectators tired of seeing elephants puncture the larger balls.
Each team consists of three players and three elephants and the basic rules of the game are almost identical to traditional polo - the main exception being the presence of an additional rider on each animal, which is necessary in order to steer the huge, clumping beasts. Elephant Polo is a recognised sport in Nepal, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.
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