Summary:
Although the festival is going on in all the three districts of Barak Valley, the main function is being held in Silchar. While the oldest polo ground in the world is the Imphal Polo Ground in Manipur, the first polo club in the world was formed at Assam 's Silchar in 1834. Talking to the media at the festival venue, the minister said the Barak Valley will eventually be a gateway to southeast Asia under the government's Act East policy. The four-a-side 30-minute match, which was organized by the All Manipur Polo Association , drew huge crowds and generated considerable excitement. The first ever competitive polo match in its modern form was played in Silchar, as a plaque behind the district library here chronicles.As if to commemorate this history, the second day of the Namami Barak festival on Sunday afternoon saw a polo match at the Gandhi Mela ground between teams from Barak and Sangai..