In a well-planned city, the playground is a must. The city did not only have places for people to do business and display their art, read, write, and organise various events but there are many institutions and gardens for playing and doing physical exercise, in which the biggest stadium for the boys of Jaipur used to be Chaugan, which was also a district stadium. The word ‘Chaugan’ means ‘an open ground for playing’ in the Jaipuri language. If seen from literary analysis, the Persian meaning of Chaugan is a wooden stick bent at one end, something like hockey used to be today. The game played by hitting the ball with this wood was called Chaugan. During the time of Akbar and other Mughal emperors, Begam’s used to play Chaugan on horses. The Polo through which Maharaja Man Singh made Jaipur recognised at the international levels is a modern and improved version.
Chaugan is situated in the west of the palace and surrounded by the city. There is a massive ground enclosed by ramparts, in which there is an open ground and many small open and closed enclosures. Because it was the largest ground in the city, the Teej and Gangaur fairs gathered here the most. To the south of the Chaugan are three octagonal bastions with eight-cornered pavilions where the king and other dignitaries loved to sit at the time of fairs and festivals. In the front, down in the ground used to happen feats of Cavalier, Naga Paltan, agile riders and soldiers. These three bastions are Cheeni Ki Burj (bastion decorated with Chinese Materials), Moti Burj and Shyam Burj.
Since Chaugan was a public place, information about its daily activities is not available, but complete details of each fair or festival are available. Sawai Jai Singh, the founder of Jaipur, was very fond of playing Chaugan, there are many pictures about it, but there is no specific written document about it. One line is that Jai Singh participated in the Chaugan game at his in-laws’ house in Udaipur. In many pictures and documents, the kings Sawai Ishwari Singh and Sawai Madho Singh-I have shown playing and enjoying Chaugan.
Ishwari Singh used to enjoy animal fights. In the chhatris of the Gaitore, on the walls of the Sukh Niwas, in the paintings of the museums, Ishwari Singh is shown everywhere doing Satemari and watching the animals fight. In a picture made by an artist named Jagroop, Ishwari Singh is sitting on the Moti Burj, in which elephants are fighting with each other with their riders coming from both sides of the Chatar ki Aad (Chatar an Obstacle) in front of him. Another picture drawn by Uda depicts two horses fighting in the same way, where some Christian priests are also in the crowd of spectators. In a painting made by the most experienced Chitere Sahabram, the lion and elephant battling in Chaugan and different kites are in the sky. The arrival of Europeans traced back to the city was built what could be better for their entertainment than the various games in Chaugan including ‘The Game Chaugan’.
After him, his step-brother Madho Singh-I was also drawn in many similar activities.
Chaugan has always been the biggest and most famous sports ground for the people of Jaipur. After independence, when it had become a district stadium, it got its identity to some extent. But with the passage of time and lack of space, it felt that this place started looking smaller. A new ground identified near Rambagh didn’t affect the charm of Chaugan until the Municipal Corporation decided to build underground parking here.
Years ago, studies started in the city regarding underground parking. To convert Chaugan into underground parking was finally decided and completed as all government works. Chaugan’s parking is gathering dust today because of the ill-maintenance and non-appointment of a responsible person neither the parking is in use nor the playground. A large area of the playground once hosting Ranji matches has become a parking lot. There is very little space for the people to play these days becoming less and less.
Despite all these things, Chaugan, which is the venue of all the fairs and festivals of the city, is and will always be the gathering point of the city people for Teej and Gangaur fairs from where the parade of Gangaur comes out dancing with pride, love and pomp.