Hapta Kangjeibung Polo Ground

Hapta Kangjeibung is one of the oldest polo grounds in the world, a large open field near the city centre where the game has been played in its original Meitei form for centuries. The Manipuri sport of sagol kangjei — played on the small local ponies called Manipuri horses — is the direct ancestor of the international game. Matches are played here in the cooler months (November to March), and watching a traditional sagol kangjei game is a genuinely extraordinary experience.

The ground is also used for other community events and sports. Even outside match days, it is worth walking past for the setting — surrounded by the hills that ring the Imphal valley, it is a peaceful spot.

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A story
Manipur is the birthplace of polo. The game has been played on this ground for at least a thousand years, and the Meitei version — sagol kangjei — is played on smaller horses with fewer rules and considerably more physical contact than the British version. The British colonizers learned the game from Manipuris in the 19th century, codified it, and then spread it across the empire, mostly without acknowledging where it came from.

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