Atya Patya
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Atya patya (Hindi: आट्यापाट्या) is a traditional South Asian tag sport played by two sides of nine players. It is more popular in rural areas of India. It is more commonly played in
Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...
, a western Indian state. Atya patya is described as a "game of feints". The playing area comprises nine trenches, coming out of either side of a central trench; a point is awarded to the attacking team's players for each trench they cross without being tagged out by the defensive players within the trenches. The game ends after 4 innings (scoring turns) of 7 minutes each, with each team having two innings to score. It has been described as a game of "militant chase". The sport is played in a relatively small area and requires no equipment, similar to other games indigenous to India such as
kabaddi Kabaddi (, ) is a contact team sport played between two teams of seven players. It is one of the traditional games of South Asia. In this game, a raider enters the opposing half of the court to touch defenders and attempt to return within 30 ...
, seven stones, kho kho,
gillidanda Gillidanda is an ancient sport Traditional games of South Asia, originating from South Asia that is still widely played throughout South Asia. The sport is also found as far north as the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean and as far east as Sou ...
and
langdi Langdi, also known as Langdi Hindi, was a Writing system, script commonly used by traders used to write Haryanvi language, Haryanvi, Punjabi language, Punjabi, and Bagri language, Bagri in the Indian subcontinent. Bookkeepers, known as munīm (, ...
. The national governed body of the sport is the "Atya Patya Federation of India". The federation was formed in 1982. The ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, government of India, lists the federation amongst its list of recognised federation for the year 2013. The federation is headquartered in
Nagpur Nagpur (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Nāgapura'') is the second capital and third-largest city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is called the heart of India because of its central geographical location. It is the largest and most populated city i ...
. Its president is H. B. Hallad. The first south Asian Atya patya Championship was held in
Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...
in June, 2013. It was won by India.


Names and variations

Some of the alternative names for atya-patya are Killithattu/Klithatu (in
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
), Kili Thadthu (in
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
), Wanjh Wati (in
Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...
), Gallery, Sur-pati, Lon-pati, Darya-banth, saragari, saramani, tilli, uppinat, uppupatti, choupal pati, panchwati, and chikka. A related Bengali game is Dari Bandha/Dariabandha, in which the attacking team is considered to be "stealing salt" by making it up the court and then "taking the salt back" to the start of the court. In
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
, similar games can be found, such as Galah Panjang/Toi/Tui/Belon Acah in Malaysia, Gobak Sodor/Galah Asin in Indonesia, Htote See Toe in Myanmar, and
Patintero ''Patintero'', also known as ''harangang-taga'' or ''tubigan'', (''Intl. Translate:'' Escape from the hell or Block the runner) is a Traditional games in the Philippines, Filipino traditional children's game. Along with ''tumbang preso'', it is o ...
in the Philippines. Due to the history of Dutch colonialism in the region, the game was also played by Dutch children.


History

Atya-patya was mentioned in the Natṟiṇai, which was written before 300 AD. It was used as combat practice by soldiers in the
Chola dynasty The Chola dynasty () was a Tamil dynasty originating from Southern India. At its height, it ruled over the Chola Empire, an expansive maritime empire. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd cen ...
, who saw it as related to the martial art of
kalaripayattu Kalaripayattu (), also known simply as Kalari, is an Indian martial art that originated on the southwestern coast of India, in what is now Kerala, during the 3rd century BCE. Etymology Kalaripayattu is a martial art which developed out of co ...
.


Rules


Field

The playing field is a rectangular court, with a central lane or "trench" 89 feet and 1 inch (27.15 m) long marked lengthwise down the middle of the court. Nine additional trenches, each 23 feet and 1 inch (7.03 m) long, are drawn on the court perpendicular to the central trench and away from each other, from one end of the court to the other.


Gameplay

The game is played in four innings (turns), with each inning lasting for seven minutes, and the teams alternating attacking and defending roles in each inning. Before each inning, the defensive team places one player in each of the trenches. A batch of four players on the attacking team, who are referred to as "assailants", line up at one end of the court, in the area in front of the front trench. The goal of the assailants is to score by crossing each trench without being eliminated; the total number of points scored in an inning by the attacking team is equal to the number of trenches crossed by their furthest-advancing assailant.LANGADI, ATYA-PATYA, SOWIE EINIGE VERWANDTE SPIELE DES FERNEN OSTENS
/ref> If an assailant is touched by a defender (and the defender commits no faults, such as stepping out of their trench, or lifting a foot at or immediately after the time of tagging the assailant), then the assailant is "out", and must leave the court. The assailant is also out if they step out of the field while failing to keep any part of their body grounded within the field. If an assailant crosses all nine trenches, they may say the word "Tond", which compels the defenders to turn around, allowing the assailant to now attempt to re-cross the nine trenches in the opposite direction. If an assailant manages to cross all nine trenches in both directions, a "Lona" is said to have been scored, meaning that 18 points have been scored by the attacking team for the 18 times that assailant crossed a trench; after a Lona has been scored, the not-out assailants are brought back to the starting area and then allowed to continue scoring for the remainder of the inning. Atya-patya matches are decided on a
best-of-three There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...
basis.


List of defensive faults

A defender's tag of an assailant does not count if the defender commits any of the following actions during or immediately after the tag: * Raising a foot in the air. * Placing any part of the body other than the feet onto the ground (known as a "hand fault"). * Placing a foot even partially outside of their trench (known as a "foot fault"). * Turning around (this occurs when the defender's shoulders face more than 90 degrees away from the front of their trench, and is known as "turning face").


Grenadier or sur

The defender in the front trench is known as a "grenadier" or "sur", and is able to run in either the front trench or the central trench. Grenadiers are allowed to commit any fault other than a foot fault or hand fault where part of their body goes outside of their trench. At the start of the inning, or after a Lona has been scored, the grenadier must "cut the squares" before tagging any assailants, meaning that the grenadier must run from the square which is formed by the intersection of the front trench and the central trench to the square formed by the intersection of the next trench and the central trench, and then back to the first square.


Rings

Special rules apply when two or more assailants are encircled by a regular defender and a grenadier, which is known as a "ring".


2013 National Championship

The national level Atya Patya tournament for 2013 was held at
Bhatkal Bhatkal is a coastal town in the Uttara Kannada District of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bhatkal lies on National Highway 66, which runs between Mumbai and Kanyakumari, and has Bhatkal railway station which is one of the major railway ...
in
Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
. Represented by 22 states & Union Territories, the event was organized jointly by Karnataka Atya Patya association Davangere and
Bhatkal Bhatkal is a coastal town in the Uttara Kannada District of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bhatkal lies on National Highway 66, which runs between Mumbai and Kanyakumari, and has Bhatkal railway station which is one of the major railway ...
Atya Patya association.


Controversy

The president of Puducherry Atya patya Association, Selvan refuted accusations levelled by Anbhagan, Member of Legislative Assembly, Puducherry, that Atya patya certificates were issued to take benefit of quota available to sports persons, in seats at medical colleges. He stated that the sport was registered in 22 states of India including in
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
. The Orissa High Court, in 1997 observed that; "The clear and categorical case of the petitioner is that she having represented the Orissa State team is the VIth National (Senior) Atya Patya Championship held in New Delhi from 22nd to 24th July, 1994 which is a recognised national event is entitled to be admitted in the 1st year Diploma in Engineering under Sports quota." giving relief to a petitioner who was denied admission under sports quota.


See also

*
Surr Surr is a tag sport that was once popular among children in villages of Awadh region in northern India. The game is played on a rectangular field, divided into four equal quadrants, by two teams of two to four players each. The attacking team ga ...
* Kho kho * British bulldog (game)


References

{{reflist * Traditional sports of India Sports originating in India Tag variants Traditional sports of South Asia Indian inventions