Whether you are searching for a new leisure activity, or you’re just interested to know what the good people of India do in their spare time, here’s a selection of some of the most common hobbies in India today.
Cricket
According to the ICC, there are more than one billion cricket fans across the globe, and India constitutes 90% of them. That won’t surprise anyone who has visited this nation of more than 1.3 billion people, many of whom are obsessed with the game.
It was the English who first took cricket to India, with sailors from the East India Company playing the game recreationally during the 1700s and 1800s. By 1864, India was playing first-class cricket, with the first recorded match taking place between Calcutta and Madras.
These days, the Indian cricket team is one of the best in the world. It has produced many legends over the years, like Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni, who announced his retirement on Independence Day 2020. These cricketers are worshipped throughout India. Walking around any part of the country, you’ll encounter games of street cricket, with children and adults alike emulating their heros.
The Indian Premier League is one of the most exciting and lucrative sporting events on the globe, attracting the world’s best players and pulling in more than 200 million viewers for big matches. But for most Indian youngsters, it is the dream to play for their country. Whenever India plays a match, an estimated 400 million people are watching.
Kabaddi
Another popular game in India is Kabaddi. A traditional contact sport, played in villages across the country, it has become professional in recent years. The Pro Kabaddi League was founded in 2014, ten years after the first ever Kabaddi World Cup took place.
Since the game was invented on the Indian subcontinent, it’s no surprise that India dominates the sport internationally. The men’s team have won all four Kabaddi World Cup titles, as well as seven from a possible eight gold medals at the Asian Games.
Although still under the radar, Kabaddi is an increasingly popular betting medium. Not every bookmaker accepts bets, so if you are looking for a Kabaddi wager, be sure to make use of a guide to online betting in India. Not only will such a site help you find a place to bet on the sport, but it will ensure you are using a safe betting company, with convenient and secure payment options and attractive bonuses.
Yoga
Now recognised globally for its physical and mental health benefits, yoga originated in ancient India, where it remains popular. Although westerners may see it as more of a physical pursuit, India’s greatest cultural export is actually more about what’s going on from the neck up.
Closely associated with Hinduism, the ultimate goal of classical yoga is to achieve a trance-like, meditative state of pure awareness. It is less about physical discipline and much more about the taming of one’s mind.
Although millions of Indians still enjoy traditional yoga, as the world becomes increasingly globalised, things are changing. The practice has been accepted as a holistic fitness regime and, as such, a more western version of yoga is increasingly found across Indian gyms and studios.
Card Games and Board Games
Perhaps unsurprisingly for a country whose culture places family high on the list of values, board and card games remain popular in India today. Activities such as ludo and snakes and ladders have their roots in older games from the Indian subcontinent, and they remain popular today.
Card games like rummy, solitaire and poker are recognisable internationally, but more traditional games like Teen Patti and Andar Bahar are also popular at family gatherings. It’s not uncommon these days to see modified versions of these games popping up at online casino sites in India, such is their popularity.
Food
The world-famous Indian cuisine is all about the amazing array of colours, aromas and of course, spices. Many recipes are traditionally handed down through families, as mothers teach daughters how to prepare dishes.
Food plays a huge part in Indian culture. Whether it’s daily bonding time, as everyone shares a little of everything on offer and families take the time to talk to one another, or a special religious occasion. Not to mention those huge Indian weddings!
Although the average Indian eats out less than twice per month, fine dining is on the rise in the country. As the middle classes continue to swell, they are increasingly turning to experiential eating.
Film and TV
India is perhaps no different to any other nation when it comes to enjoyment of television and cinema. The world is a much smaller place these days thanks to the internet, so western shows such as Game of Thrones or Friends are popular in the country.
But of course, locally produced entertainment is what it’s really all about. Aside from the rich culture of Hindi language television shows, some of which have run for decades, there is also India’s billion dollar film industry. Between 800 and 1,000 Bollywood movies are churned out every year, with more than 4 billion tickets sold. And that is only a small part of the Indian cinema business.
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