Revving up the tempo, Isha Gramotsavam, India’s biggest rural sports festival, will be hosting divisional level matches on September 10th at the Madurai Race Course ground. General public is invited to watch these competitions for free.
Addressing the media today, Swami Nakuja, field coordinator of the 'Isha Gramotsavam said, “The 15th Isha Gramotsavam organized by Isha Outreach is taking place in South India this year. Moving ahead to the first phase of cluster level competitions, the divisional level competition will be held on September 10th. More than 300 men and women from 5 districts of Madurai, Dindigul, Sivagangai, Karur and Pudukottai are going to participate in the matches.”
“The matches will consist of Volleyball for men as well as Kabbadi for men and women. A total of 18 teams will participate in the Volleyball competition while 6 teams each will compete in the men's and women's category in Kabaddi.”
The competition will begin from 6 AM in the morning which will continue till the evening. Besides the regular matches, recreational sports competitions inviting the general public to participate will be held from 3PM- 5PM.
The best performing teams at the divisional levels will qualify for the finals to be held in front of Adiyogi at Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore. Isha Gramotsavam Committee will take care of the food, accommodation and travel expenses of these players.
Isha Outreach, which is organising the Gramotsavam has been recognized as National Sports Promotion Organization ( NSPO ) by the Ministry of Sports & Youth Affairs. In the year 2018, Isha Outreach received the “Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar” award from the Hon’ble President of India for Sports Development.
Sports celebrities like Sachin Tendulkar, Olympic medallist Rajavardhan Singh Rathore and Karnam Malleshwari have earlier participated as special guests in the finals of the sports festival. Mithali Raj, PV Sindhu, Virender Sehwag, and Shikhar Dhawan have voiced support for Isha Gramotsavam.