RECREATION

Association football (soccer) has in the course of the 20th century supplanted practically all traditional sports. Field hockey, cricket, tennis, badminton, and wrestling also are practiced. The best known of the indigenous games is ha-do-do. The rules require each team in turn to send out a player to raid the other’s territory. The raider must, while chanting, touch as many opposing players as he can without taking a breath. Kite flying is another traditional pastime enjoyed by young and old alike. The making of elaborate kites from cloth or paper is a distinctive visual folk art as well. 
All towns and most villages have cinema houses. Plays are occasionally staged by amateur groups and drama societies in educational institutions and are broadcast regularly on radio and television. Musical concerts, though not as popular as the cinema, are well attended. Especially popular in the countryside is jatra, a rudimentary form of opera that draws on local legends.