The 18th edition of Isha Gramotsavam, India's largest rural sports festival organised annually by the Isha Foundation under the guidance of Sadhguru, got off to a grand start across Tamil Nadu on Saturday with the launch of the first phase of cluster-level competitions.
The inaugural event in Karaikudi, Sivaganga district, was flagged off by Tamil Nadu Minister for Natural Resources T.K. Prabu.
Similar inaugural events were held across the State, with MP K. Eswarasamy launching the competitions at Udumalpet, MLA M. Harish at Poonamallee, MLA S.R. Thangapandi at Madurai Kochadai, MLA I. Tahira at Arcot, MLA R. Mani at Omalur, MLA C. Vignesh at Musiri, and Assistant Superintendent of Police Subham Dhiman, IPS, at Tiruttani. Several public representatives and government officials also participated in inaugurating the events.
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The festival features volleyball for men and throwball for women, with participation open to individuals aged 14 years and above. Professional sportspersons are not eligible to compete.
More than 70 cluster venues have been identified across Tamil Nadu. Competitions were conducted at over 40 venues on August 1, while the remaining cluster matches will be held on August 8 and 9.
Around 24,000 players from 2,400 volleyball teams and 6,200 players from 620 throwball teams are participating in the first phase, with nearly 30,000 rural athletes expected to compete across the State.
The second phase, comprising divisional-level competitions, will be held during the third and fourth weekends of August. The grand finale is scheduled for September 6 at the Adiyogi premises in Coimbatore, in the presence of Sadhguru.
Winning teams in both volleyball and throwball will receive ₹5 lakh, while the runners-up will get ₹3 lakh. The third and fourth place teams will receive ₹1 lakh and ₹50,000, respectively. Cash prizes will also be awarded at the cluster and divisional levels, while special competitions for persons with disabilities will carry separate awards. Overall prize money for the festival exceeds ₹1 crore.
After being conducted only in South Indian states until last year, Isha Gramotsavam 2026 has now expanded to North India. Besides Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, competitions are being held in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra, and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
The festival is expected to bring together over 80,000 rural athletes, including 15,000 women, representing around 7,000 teams from more than 40,000 villages.
Conceived under Sadhguru's vision of making sports an integral part of rural life, Isha Gramotsavam seeks to encourage healthy lifestyles, provide sporting opportunities for rural youth and women, and address social challenges such as unemployment, declining agricultural livelihoods and substance abuse through community participation in sports.