The Facts about The Stadiums Of India

The Facts about The Stadiums Of India

Stadium Tour

More or less we all love to play cricket or to watch cricket. People who have not seen a cricket match on the television or heard a running commentary of cricket match on radio are rarely found. Even Gully Cricket or street cricket is also very popular in few parts of our country, especially in Kolkata. Its popularity is such that even many big and small tournaments with good prize money from regular sponsors are often visible in the streets of Kolkata. There is a huge frenzy in the name of playing cricket all over the country. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari or from Kolkata to Ahmedabad, all Indians of all ages have been involved in the game over the centuries. This supreme love for Cricket always brings the mass to talk about its innumerable facts.

But do we really know everything about our loved Sports? I am sure that we do not. For example, do we know about the fields where the game is played? Today we will discuss all the Stadiums in India. In this context, it is important to keep in mind that cricket is not the only popular sport in our country. Football, wrestling, kabaddi, archery, various athletic events such as running, shot put, high jump, long jump, etc., and all other sports that are Olympic recognized, are also practiced in our country.

Quite evidently in a huge country like India with a sports loving population of more than 130 crores, we need huge stadiums to host all these famous games and to make the seating arrangement for the spectators. Let's try to get detailed information about the sports practice of our great country and all those arenas to enjoy it.

As we all know that India has won the title of World Championship in cricket for several times. Numerous big international cricket competitions had been organized in our country many times. In the same way, our country has won the title of the best country in the world many times in Hockey. Though cricket is the most passionate sport for the Indians but let’s also not forget that hockey is the National Sport of our country. At the same time, just four years after independence, i.e. in the year 1951, our country stunned the world by hosting the Asian Games, one of the best sporting events in the world, proved that any seemingly hard work can be done very easily by the people of India only with will and sincerity and hard work.

In recent times, India has highly excelled in cricket and hockey as well as many other sports.

Another sport that is passionately associated with Indian soil is Football. Many may remember that the Indian football team, led by the late Chuni Goswami, won the Gold Medal at the 1962 Asian Games, and won a silver medal at the 1964 AFC Asian Cup.  Our country has a number of international standard stadiums for cricket, hockey and football. In the same way, there are many big stadiums in our country for other sports.

The research says, there are a total of 125 sport stadium in our country for all types of sports, big or small. There are 52 cricket stadiums for playing cricket only, where sometimes at least one international cricket match such as Test cricket, One-day international cricket or Twenty20 matches are held. No other country in the world has so many cricket stadiums. England is in the second place with only 23 international stadiums.

Well, do you know where the highest cricket stadium in the world located is? Don't be surprised. It is also located in our country at Chail, just 32 kilometers from Shimla, the capital city of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. This famous stadium was built with the financial support of the Maharaja of Patiala state as a symbol of his great love for the game of cricket in the subjugated India. Surrounded by cedar and pine trees at an altitude of about 7500 feet, surrounded by the majestic mountain peaks of the Himalayas, this magnificent stadium still attracts a large number of visitors. Although the stadium is currently maintained by the military, no international games are currently held here.

However, the world's highest international cricket stadium, where regular tournaments are being organized, is also located at Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India. Named after the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association, the stadium is a magnificent one at an altitude of 4,780 feet. On one side of this colorful stadium are the snow-capped peaks of the Dhauladhar mountain range. Dharamsala town is also internationally famous for the Home Town of Dalai lama. The nearest airport from Dharamsala is Kangra airport which is only eight kilometer away through the hilly terrain. This stadium is the home ground for the Himachal Pradesh Cricket team for Ranji Trophy matches and also for few local matches. The former director of Indian Cricket Academy Mr. Dav Whatmore had recommended this Stadium for International matches and the first international team who played the matches in this stadium was Pakistan. They played here a warm up match with the India A team in the year 2005. This stadium is also considered as the Most Beautiful stadium of India and at present known as the world’s highest stadium too.

Did you know that the stadium with the largest number of seats in the world is in Pyongyang, North Korea? Its name is Rangrado First of May Stadium. It is a football stadium. According to Wikipedia, the total number of seats in this stadium is 1 lakh 14 thousand. And you should not be surprised to hear that the second largest stadium in the world is located in India. The total number of seats in this stadium in Ahmedabad, the capital of Gujarat, is 1 lakh 10 thousand. The stadium is better known as Motera, although the official name of the stadium is Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Stadium. It is a cricket stadium and it is the world’s largest cricket stadium in capacity.

Of course there is another huge capacity arena in our country, but that is only for motor sports.  Located in Greater Noida in the state of Uttar Pradesh, the International Motor Sports Stadium hosts events such as Formula One. The Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad is the number one international cricket stadium in our country, followed by the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, the second largest international cricket stadium in the country. The third largest international cricket stadium is in Raipur, Chhattisgarh and the fourth largest international stadium is the Rajiv Gandhi Cricket Stadium, located in the city of Hyderabad in the state of Telangana. 

Modern sports arenas or stadiums have been set up in almost all the states of India to encourage sports and exercise. I have already said that there are a total of one hundred and twenty five small and big stadiums in our country for all the games. 

If judged as a single state, the Indian state of West Bengal tops the list of stadiums. There are a total of eleven stadiums in the state. Then there is the state of Kerala. The total number of stadiums in this state is ten. In third place is the state of Punjab, with a total of nine stadiums. In fourth place are the four states of the country, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. There are eight stadiums in each of these states. Madhya Pradesh and Orissa are in the fifth place. There are seven stadiums in each of these states. Three states of the country are in the sixth place with five stadiums each, Delhi, Jharkhand and Karnataka. Assam is in the seventh place with four stadiums in total. Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Goa, Haryana, Rajasthan, Sikkim and Telangana are in the eighth position with three stadiums each. Two states are in the ninth place with two stadiums each. They are the states of Chhattisgarh and Jammu and Kashmir. Five other Indian states are ranked tenth in the country with one stadium each, namely Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura and Uttarakhand. Although there are two stadiums in Himachal Pradesh, the Chail Stadium in Himachal Pradesh has been dropped from the list as the world's highest stadium, the Chail Stadium, is currently under military control and no games are held here.

Only cricket is played, such stadiums are the most in our country. The number is enviable for any other country, including all the cricket stadiums where international, state or local teams play. It is fifty-three in total. This is followed by the number of stadiums exclusively for football, a total of thirty-one. Hockey is the national sport of India, while in our country there are only seven stadiums exclusively for playing hockey, of which only four are in the state of Punjab, however, in our country there are stadiums where hockey is played on the same ground as cricket and football. There is only one indoor stadium in our country for indoor games i.e. table tennis etcs; and that is in Kolkata. The Yuva Bharati Stadium in Kolkata, also known as the Salt Lake Stadium, is the third largest stadium in our country, where about eighty-five thousand spectators can sit together and watch the game. Football and athletics are played in this stadium. There is only one stadium dedicated to athletics in our country and that is in Jharkhand but there is one more stadium for cricket and athletics and more over there are ten such stadiums where athletics and football are played together. We also have a separate stadium for gymnastics and another one for equestrian and kabaddi. We also have a number of sports complexes and multipurpose stadiums.

Do you know where the smallest international cricket ground in India is located? Yes, that's right. The Feroz Shah Kotla Cricket Ground in Delhi, now known as the Arun Jaitley Cricket Stadium, is the smallest international cricket stadium in our country. Although the spectator seats are around fifty thousand but the perimeter of the field is very small. The square boundary of this field is only 56 meters and the straight boundary is 60 meters.

Stadium Tour

Well, do you know which is the oldest cricket ground in our country and is still shining in its glory? The name of this field is Eden Gardens. This beautiful stadium in Kolkata, India, was built in 1864 AD. From what is known from history, Babu Rajchandra Das was a famous zamindar of Calcutta at that time. Hopefully you have heard the name of Rani Rasmoni. In the history of Bengal at that time, the woman whose name is written in gold letters was the wife of the zamindar Babu Rajchandra Das. His huge palace was at Janbazar in Kolkata. The zamindar, who was really taking care of his vassal, and who owned a lot of property, was also famous for his charity. Once the youngest daughter of Babu Rajchandra Das had fallen terribly ill. Various treatments, medicines, diets, etc. were all failing to get recovery to his little girl. Kolkata was then the capital of India. The governor was Lord Auckland. On hearing of the serious illness of the daughter of Babu Rajchandra Das, The Governer and his sister Emily Eden arranged for her medical treatment on their own initiative and as a result the zamindar's daughter gradually recovered. Extremely grateful and delighted, Babu Rajchandradas gifted a beautifully arranged garden on the banks of the Hooghly River to the Governor. The garden was named Auckland Circus Garden after Lord Auckland, and was later renamed as The Eden Garden in memory of the governor's sister, Emily Eden, when it was redecorated.  In the Bible, the garden of the heaven is called the Eden Garden. Much later, when the Englishmen needed a large cricket ground, the first cricket ground in India was built on a large plot of land adjacent to the Eden Gardens, and the play ground was named after the adjacent Eden Garden. Built in 1864, this cricket ground is not just a playground; it is a living document of the history of subjugated India. It is known from the pages of history that the first Test cricket was officially organized at this ground in 1934 after the British Officers used this ground for their hobbies and entertainment for a long time. Subordinate India and the ruling England were the first countries to play Test cricket on this soil.

The second oldest cricket stadium in India, the one we discussed earlier, is the famous Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi, which is the smallest stadium in the country in terms of field size. Built in 1883, the stadium was formerly known as the Oyelingdon Pavilion. Currently, the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium has been renamed as Arun Jaitley Stadium.

The passion and love of the people of a country is intertwined with the history, civilization and culture of that country. Just as the history of ancient Rome is intertwined with the story of the Coliseums, the story of its gladiators, the ebb and flow of thousands of people, the sounds of emotion and wailing, so are the stadiums of India.  Almost every stadium in India is involved in a number of complex ups and downs, all sorts of weird games of different colors of politics. It may be sometimes with the pictures of power and pride, or sometimes with the hopeless pain. Yet the constant emotions of the common people of the country play around these large courtyards. Inside this vast arena innumerable new dreams, new hopes are created, and so many promising new buds are destroyed prematurely and fall into the terrible storm of despair, that no one can imagine. Yet the emotion survives, like a hint of new life hiding inside the seed. Probably this is the another name of civilization. So friends, move forward with emotion because moving forward is another name for life.

THE END