The dawn of the New Year calls for all people to get together as one and enjoy some quality time playing games and engaging in other rituals. The traditional games played at Avurudu festivals are climbing the greased pole, pillow fighting, chak gudu, hackery racing, elle and other sports. Over the years, these sports have instilled a sense of team spirit in people in remote areas of the country. 

Here, we’ve listed out some of the traditional games played during the New Year. 

Pancha Keliya 

A popular indoor game played during the New Year season. Pancha is played with five small seashells, a coconut shell, and a chart. Players are divided into two groups. 

Porapol Geheema 

Porapol geheema is a game which involves two teams, each taking turns to throw a coconut until all the nuts on one side are broken. The winning nut will be kept in the temple. This game is very famous in the Southern province, especially in Matara and Devundara. During ancient times, only king coconuts were used, but nowadays with the demand and the price of the king coconuts, coconuts are being used. The popular belief is that the origin of this game dates beyond the advent of Buddhism. 

Ankeliya 

Ankeliya is another common game mostly preferred by teenage boys. It is a more elaborate exercise than porapol geheema and is essentially a community game where divisions called udupila and yatipila are made. Each contesting side has a forked sambur horn. These horns are interlocked and attached to a strong tree, which is called the ‘an-gaha’ (horn tree). A rope is then attached to the interlocked horns and both teams have to tug vigorously at the rope. The tugging has to continue until one of the horns is damaged. 

Gudu Keliya 

A game played mostly by the smaller children where a propelling stick about two and a half feet long and a smaller one about six inches in length called the kuttiya are used. A small hole about three inches is dug the kuttiya is placed across this hole. The player then inserts the longer stick beneath the kuttiya and pushes it forward as fast as he/she can. The rival players are spread out in the field in order to catch the kuttiya while it is still in the air. If any of them succeed, the striker loses the game. 

Pillow Fighting 

This is where two contestants have to fight with pillows keeping one hand behind their back on a pole fixed high. The person who falls off loses the game and the next takes his turn. 

Tug O’ War 

This is played using a long and strong rope. Players divide into two groups to play this. The middle of the rope is marked and each team is asked to stand on either side of the rope and pull it until one team is dragged towards the opposite side. 

Olinda Keliya 

This game is played using Olinda seeds. Women mainly play this game. Players also sing Olinda kavi. It is believed that Olinda keliya originated in Bangladesh. The stool, which is used to play Olinda, has two columns with seven holes in a row. Seeds like madatiya, mee and kekuna are also used to play this game. 

Some other games include going on the swing (onchili padeema), raban contests, scraping coconuts and much more. These traditional games enhance the team spirit of people and help make friends. 

Text by Kamanthi Wickramasinghe