Outdoor games of yesteryear

by Gamini G. Punchihewa

Many indoor and outdoor games trace their roots to the third century BC. When the Sinhala and Hindu New Year comes the village youth and lasses swing on the Onchillawa (swing) singing folk songs, such as Onchili chili chilla Male Vella Digate Nelli Kele and beat the Rabana (drums) to various rhythms, welcoming the New Year.

Among the ancient outdoor games, one called Wala Salli, (Hole Money) is popular in the villages. A similar game in modern times is the one called Quoita, (an Egyptian derivative as the game originated in Egypt). In excavations around Tisa Wewa, the circular thin earthware discs discovered were claimed by archaeologists to have been used in the Wala Salli outdoor game. In Egypt this game was called Nilab Fill Bora

Wala Salli

For this game, a small cup-shaped hole is cut on the ground, free from any weeds and dirt.

About three feet away from this hole, a line is drawn across it, indicating that the disc should go beyond the marked line. The number of players could be two or four. They stand about 10 feet away from the marked line.

Each player holds with the thumb and forefinger a disc made out of a piece of an earthen pot or a one cent coin.

Then the player throws the discs into the hole. The winner is the one who collects all the disc pitched into the hole and then puts them into the hole.

Another larger disc or a five or 10 cent coin is thrown at one of the discs lying around the hole, the particular one selected by the other players. If the player succeeds in hitting one of those discs selected by the players, he then collects all the discs in it, if he fails, his turn is over. Now comes the concluding part of the game as to who is the winner.

The next player starts the game in the prescribed manner. In this instance, he would use the discs that had not been won by the first player. This game goes on until all the discs are won in that manner. The money collected goes to the winner.

Wala Kaju

In the villages where there are cadju trees, dried cadju is used to play a game called Wala Kaju in the same way as Wala Salli.

A weighing measure made of metal / stone Tharadi Gala is used for the purpose. About 25 cadju nuts are thrown on the ground a few feet away into a line that is drawn and the nuts are thrown across the line. Then with the measuring weight, the player is given two chances to make the nuts fall into the hole.

The person who gets the highest number of nuts into the hole at the end of the game is the winner. The modern game of marbles is played in a similar manner.

Bola Keliya

Another ancient outdoor game is the Bola Keliya. Archaeologists in the Anuradhapura area discovered segments cut from pottery stratum to make such balls. The potters' children would have collected these from the pottery remains and made them into segments to be used by these players.

H. Parker, who had done extensive studies on our archaeological relics and ancient tanks described the Bola Keliya as "Similar articles are still used by children in Ceylon, the sphere being held between the ends of the forefinger and the thumb of the right hand and propelled by placing the end of the forefinger of the left hand between them behind the ball, and employing it, with the left wrist, as a spring which propels the ball".

The ball is set against the last joint of the forefinger, the back of that hand being towards the player, and not, as in England, between the knuckle of the right hand thumb and the tip of the forefinger of that hand. The game is usually played where players follow each other's marbles, each in turn endeavouring to strike that of the other player.

Buhu Keliya

What is cricket to England, is Buhu Keliya to the ancient Sri Lankans. It's a game of pure Sinhalese identity exclusively played during the Sinhala and Hindu New Year. The substitute for the wickets are two coconut shells with the husks positioned at one end and three or four inches apart, with a stick laid across them.

Both Dr.P.E.P. Deraniyagala in his Some Sinhala Combative Field and Aquatic Sports and Games (1959) and H. Parker in his "Ancient Ceylon" (1909-reprinted in 1981, 1984 and 1992) said, "...... the ball is formed of an unripe pumelo fruit, rendered soft and elastic, by being placed under hot ashes, and protected by closely plaited envelopes of strips or bark".

"Now the play commences. There are two sections-those behind the wicket (wicket-keepers like in cricket), in which the captain of the other side starts by throwing the ball at the wicket. Unlike in cricket, the wicket is not defended".

If the wicket falls one member of the other party forfeits play. On the contrary, if the ball gets through the wicket, then those behind it, attempt to catch it, while the ball is in the air. If the player catches it above the height of the knee, then the bowler is out. In this game of bowling and throwing the ball at the wicket, irrespective of whether the ball is caught or not, after it runs through the ground of the second team, one of them becomes the bowler.

Gudu Game

Everybody is aware of the Gudu Game. In England it is called tip-cat. Here, a stick pointed at both ends, about three to four inches long, is thrown at a hole three inches long and one inch wide. One end of this hole slopes downwards. Here the distance should be equal to the height of the tallest player, measured to the tips of the outstretched fingers.

An opponent standing close to the hole, tries to hit the catch-the-stick planted there, before it falls on the ground with the aid of a stick 18 inches long. If the stick falls into the hole within a distance of 18 inches, or be caught when struck, the striker is dismissed.