Dictionary

gilli-danda en · NOUN

Etymology

Ultimately from Sanskrit दण्ड (daṇḍa).

Meanings

1. (uncountable) A game played in several Asian countries, in which a large stick is used to hit a small oval-shaped piece of wood. It is played much like tipcat, baseball, and cricket.
   • The indigenous games like gilli-danda, goli, kabaddi, tash, kabootar urana (pigeon flying), erhi koodna (long jump), surra, cheel jhapatna, tahat etc., were commonly played by both children and adults of the village[...] 2011, Bhaskar Majumder, Rethinking Villages, Concept Publishing Company, page 110:
   • This happens because the hero of the film asserts that cricket is only a poor copy of their own age-old children's game of gilli-danda. So this mockery inverts the colonizing mission of civilizing the childlike natives on its head and also 'desecrates the "purity" of cricket roots' asserted by the British. 2013, Subhas Ranjan Chakraborty, Shantanu Chakrabarti, Kingshuk Chatterjee, The Politics of Sport in South Asia, Routledge, page 156:
   • A game of gilli-danda continues until all players have had a turn at being on strike. The winning team is the side that records the most danda lengths and thus scores the most points. 2015, Victoria Williams Ph.D., Weird Sports and Wacky Games around the World: From Buzkashi to Zorbing, ABC-CLIO, page 122:
   • Bhuvan the hero of the film to understand 'cricket', relates it to his understanding of their native folk game of Gilli Danda. He says: ball (image of the silli thing) is gola-gola-ball, bat-phalli-phalli-bat. 2004, Triveni: Journal of Indian Renaissance, Volume 73, Triveni Publishers:
   • 1970, Instructor, Volume 80, Instructor Publications It is played by children of all ages. Boys like it especially, but it is not unusual to see girls and even adults playing Gilli Danda!
   • Also called guli danda, Gilli Danda is a sport for an amateur which is very popular among rural youth. It is known as Danguli in Bengali, Kuttiyam Kolum in Malayalam, Kitti-Pullu in Tamil, Chinni-Dandu in Kannada, Gooti-Billa in Telugu and Lappa-Duggi in Pashto. It follows the structure of cricket or baseball, only it is played with sticks. 2013, Hachette India, Indiapedia: The All-India Factfinder:

Forms

Translations (20)

kn ಗಿಲ್ಲಿ ದಾಂಡು (game) · kn ಹಾಣೆ ಗೆಂಡೆ (game) · bn গুটবাড়ি (game) · bn ভ্যাটাডান্ডা (game) · or ଗୁଟିଡାବୁଳ (game) · or ପିଲବାଡ଼ି (game) · pa ਗੁੱਲੀ ਡੰਡਾ (game) · kn ಚಿನ್ನಿ ಕೋಲು (game) · hi गुल्लीडण्डा (game) · bn ট্যামডাং (game) · ta கிட்டிப் புள் (game) · kn ಚಿನ್ನಿ ದಾಂಡು (game) · hi गुल्लीडंडा (game) · bn ড্যাংবাড়ি (game) · kok कोयंडो बाल (game) · or ଡାବଲପୁଆ (game) · hi गिल्ली डंडा (game) · mr विटी दांडू (game) · or ଗୁଲି ବାଡ଼ି (game) · bn ডাংগুলি (game)