The country’s biggest annual rural sports festival ‘Isha Gramotsav’ is now going to be held in the villages of North India also. This is a very popular sports tournament in the rural areas of South India, but now for the first time it will also be organized in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Maharashtra. Along with 10 states, one union territory will also participate in this tournament and with this, this 18th edition will become the biggest event till date.
Along with the rural areas of North India, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry will also participate in this tournament. This time, 7000 teams will participate in the tournament, through which 80 thousand players from about 40 thousand villages will participate, which includes about 15,000 women players.
How much reward will the teams get?
In this tournament, the winning volleyball and throwball teams of the grand finale will get a prize of Rs 5 lakh each, while the runner-up teams will be given Rs 3 lakh each. At the same time, the teams coming in third and fourth place will be given prize money of Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50,000 respectively. Apart from this, cash prizes will also be given in the cluster and divisional stages and special prizes have been fixed for the Paralympic category. Overall, prize money of more than Rs 1 crore has been kept in this tournament.
Competitions will be held in three phases
To participate in the tournament, players can register for Volleyball (Men) and Throwball (Women) competitions. This competition will be held in a multi-tier format, which includes cluster-level competitions, divisional stage and grand finale. The cluster matches will start from the second week of July, while the grand finale will be held on September 6 at Isha Yoga Center in Coimbatore, in which Sadhguru will also be present. Registration for Isha Gramotsav 2026 has opened and rural players can register at ishagramotsavam.sadhguru.org.
Cluster match in UP on 25-26 July
The cluster-level matches will be held at five venues in Uttar Pradesh, with the first phase being held on July 25-26 in Lucknow, Varanasi, Muzaffarnagar and Meerut, followed by the divisional phase matches on August 1-2 in Gautam Buddha Nagar. Whereas in Haryana, cluster-level competitions will be held on 25th and 26th July in Panipat, Karnal and Ambala. Then the next phase of cluster matches will be held on August 1 and 2 in Hisar and Kurukshetra and after that the divisional phase is scheduled on August 9 in Karnal, which will include teams from all the districts of the division.
Isha Gramotsav gave platform to women
Nandini Duraisamy, 36-year-old throwball player and captain of the PG Pudur team of Devarayapuram village, says, ‘Before Gramotsav, there were very few opportunities for rural women to play sports. Most of the women did not even come out of the house, but through Isha Gramotsav, many women have gained confidence to go out, play and show their talent. My biggest challenge was to travel around 120 kilometers every day for practice. My husband took care of my daughter and family while I was away for training. Isha supported us by providing travel, food, balls, net and coach, which made a huge difference.
Housewife turned throwball player
Throwball player and housewife Rajeshwari says, ‘We housewives, who stay at home all day, treat it like a commitment. Wherever we are, we make sure to reach here on time. Even when we go to the village or anywhere else, we make sure to return by 5 pm. Our husband supports us a lot in this. It was not easy, we have really struggled to reach here. When we play, some people find ways to pull us down or stop us. We have faced all this and today we are standing strong here and playing well.
More than 2.6 lakh rural players joined
In fact, over the last two decades, Isha Gramotsav has evolved from a regional sports festival to one of the largest community-run sports tournaments in the country. Since its inception, the initiative has connected over 2.6 lakh rural players from over 35,000 villages and inspired thousands of women and first-time players. Gramotsav also celebrates the rich cultural heritage of rural India through colorful displays of traditional art, folk performances, music, dance, sports and regional cuisine. People and players can experience charming folk traditions like Mangai Valli Kummi Aattam and participate in traditional rural games like Kho-Kho, Gilli Danda and Kabaddi.
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