[ Dagam Padung ]
Yupi Lakpi is a coconut snatching game, which is an Indian version of rugby. It is an age-old local game of Manipur. It is played by the native Meitei community.
The literal translation of Yubi Lakpi in the Meitei language is ‘coconut snatching’. To this day, the exact origins of the game remain disputed. But the popular belief is that Yubi Lakpi is an evolution of the historic ceremonial enactment of nectar snatching in the samudra manthan.
An official game of Yubi Lakpi is played annually during the Yaoshang festival, the spring festival of Holi, at the palace grounds of the Shree Shree Bijoy Govindaji temple, in the presence of erstwhile royals.
The sport is played on a rectangular field, about 45 meters x 18 metres in dimensions. One end of the field has a 4.5 meter x 3 metre box, which essentially acts as the goal region. To score a goal, a player has to carry the coconut, and go through the box and out of the field.
The sport is played barefoot, where players wear just a pair of shorts and no shirts. Before the match starts, players smear their bodies with oil to make it slippery when others try to catch. The coconut used is also soaked in oil before the start.
At the start of the match, seven players line up on each side of the field. A referee tosses a coconut to begin the play. Each player individually tries to score goals by carrying the coconut, and other players try to tackle the coconut carrier and snatch the coconut away. The player that scores the most goals in the match receives an award.
Rules of the game
Though you will find that the sport is quite similar to rugby in many ways, it isn’t related in any way to the game. The distinctive difference is that Yubi Lakpi is played with a coconut instead of a ball.?
There are two teams – Team God and Team Evil. This is much like samudra manthan, where the devas team was up against asuras. The players battle it out with coconut as the ceremonial ‘trophy’ to treasure. Each team has seven players who compete against the opposition team, as well as with each other.
To start the game, the referee tosses the coconut in the air. The players spring into action, individually trying to score as many points as possible. Wait, but are these players scoring points for the team? No, though a team sport, the winner is a single player, with each playing for himself. But the annual game’s outcome in terms of team performance still holds significant relevance.
The outcome of the game is significantly important for the land’s future. The result is thought to signify the land’s prosperity for the rest of the year. ?That is, if Team God wins, it is thought that there will be an abundance of food, prosperity, peace and happiness in the land, and if Team Evil wins, then it is supposed to be bad luck. The winner is rewarded with token money. Along with the coconut, he is carried by the rest of the team all the way to the temple for a holy dip in the temple waters. (The contributor is a mass communication student of Rajiv Gandhi University, Rono Hills)
