Kila Raipur Festival -Punjab

• (Bengali) Punjab

Qila Raipur Sports Festival, popularly known as the Rural Olympics, is held annually in Qila Raipur (near Ludhiana), in Punjab, India.The Competitions are held for major Punjabi rural sports, include cart-race, athletic events and rope pulling.

In February each year, Ludhiana becomes the destination for hundreds of sports enthusiasts, including foreigners. They come to Qila Raipur to see the special breed of bullocks, camels, dogs, mules and other animals competing in competitive events. The most prestigious winners have attended. In the year of the Olympics 2008, Hakam and Naib Singh Nagrath from village Kalsian, Punjab took the 1st place prize. They also won first in gujjaral and phalewal. They are known in Punjab as the men who hold the greatest passion in the sport.Competitors ranged from teenagers to pensioners. The festival saw participants competing in unusual categories like holding bicycles in their teeth, pulling vehicles with their hair and more. Horses and dogs also competed in their own events.

Three types of competitions are held during rural meets, Purely rural games : Kabaddi, Wrestling, Weight-lifting etc. Modern sports like athletics, hockey, football, volleyball, cycling, handball etc. Performing sports like acrobatics, twisting an iron-rod by placing it on Adam’s apple, passing tractor over the rib-ease, cracking a big stone by placing it on the chest etc. Now another colour is also being added to these sports fairs. They have got intermixed with folk singing when sun sets after the days sports competitions the notes of music begin to emanate and singing continues, sometimes, late in the night.

How to Reach
Ludhiana is an amazing city known for its cultural relevance. This city is located at an approximate distance of 307, 1,600, 2,400, and 1,800 km from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata respectively. Here is how you can reach Ludhiana by the following means of transportation.

By Air. Ludhiana Airport (LUH), also known as the Sahnewal Airport is the nearby airport from the village of Kila Raipur situated at a distance of 20-25 km. This airport serves Ludhiana and its nearby regions. For covering this distance, you can take a cab or some other means of transportation to reach your destination from the airport.

By Road. Ludhiana has been very well connected with other cities by its well-maintained road networks. From Delhi, Amritsar, Mumbai, Bangalore you will need to cover a distance of 307, 141, 1,725, and 2,485 km respectively.

By Train. Ludhiana is connected via regular train networks from cities like Delhi, Chandigarh, Pune, and Pathankot. One of the best options to visit Ludhiana via train would be to deboard at Ludhiana junction. From this station, you will need to cover a distance of about 20-25 km to reach your destination.