It is match day at Chunda Polo Club in Udaipur. Several young players of the club will be showing off their skills today to a packed audience of friends, family and polo enthusiasts. As the players mount their horses, Veeram Dev Singh Krishnawat (popularly known as Veeram dada) checks their saddles one last time. He encourages the riders to play their best game, which turns out to be a thrilling spectacle.

A polo player who runs luxury hotels Chunda Shikar Oudi and Chunda Palace in Udaipur, Krishnawat established the Club in 2018 to promote the game and give promising students an avenue to play. “Many students have learnt to play polo and to ride horses here, at no cost. Anyone interested in learning the game, regardless of their age or gender, is welcome,” he says, adding he currently has a 100 training under him.   

This is revolutionary for a sport that is famously expensive. Promoted in India by the British, it became popular with royal families who had horses, and hence took to the sport readily. The Jodhpur and Jaipur royal families, in particular, were early patrons, hosting tournaments that went on to become fixtures on India’s polo calendar. Today, Padmanabh Singh of Jaipur is among the most visible young royals associated with polo.

Krishnawat, now 40, grew up with stallions. His father Thakur Ghanshyam Singh gifted him his first, named Ganga, when he was just four-years-old. “People told him not to put me on a horse at such a young age. But he believed that children must be introduced to horses early on in life, so they learn to respect and care for them,” he says. Krishnavat learnt to ride, groom horses, and Ganga was even part of his wedding procession. That early introduction to horses also made him an excellent polo player. He captained for his school, The Mayo College Ajmer, then went on to play many prestigious tournaments including the Sirmour Cup in Jaipur, the HH Maharaja of Jodhpur Cup and games in the UK. 

And while you do not have to be a royal to play, you do need to be able to fund a horse. “I don’t own a horse, so Veeram dada lends me the Club’s horses for competitive games,” says 16-year-old Lakshyaraj Singh Rathore who has been training at Chunda since 2021. “Today, hardly any one owns horses, including the royals and nobles,” says Krishnawat, adding that while many Rajasthani (especially Mewari) households kept horses in the past, mainly for hunting, that practice stopped long ago since the upkeep of a horse is expensive. Excluding the purchase price, which can vary from a few lakhs to crores, a horse’s upkeep can cost between ₹25,000 and ₹30,000 a month including its food, grooming and exercise, he explains, adding, “Then one must have stables to keep them, and recruit good staff to tend to them. It’s a lot of work and money, which deters people from keeping horses today. That also means fewer kids are growing up with horses, and have access to polo.”

At his Club, there are 25 thoroughbred stallions he has purchased from stud farms across the country. “I come from the lineage of Maharana Pratap Singh. We have always loved and cherished our horses,” says Krishnawat. Apart from personal funds, the sum earned from polo experiences such as show matches or workshops for grand weddings and corporate events respectively fund the Club; expenses that go into training youngsters like 26-year-old Reena Jat.  

A physician at the Pacific Medical College & Hospital, Udaipur, Reena says, “It was at the Chunda club that I first saw a live polo match.” The experience made her want to learn the game so she enrolled at the Club three months ago. “Veeram dada and his entire team, especially Savji, the caretaker, are passionate about teaching,” she says, adding that her parents would have not let her play if not for the Club’s free classes. “My parents worry that if I ever get injured while playing, who would marry me. So, if they had to pay for me to learn polo, they would have been a lot more reluctant,” she says.

Bhuvaneshwari Rawat, a 23-year-old dentist has also learnt polo at the Chunda Club, and played in a few show matches as well. “When I started learning in 2023, I was the only girl in my batch. But Veeram dada always made me feel comfortable and included, and taught me with as much passion as he did the boys,” she says.  Currently, the Club has 10 to 15 dedicated students, with men outnumbering the women, but younger girls are keen on the summer training camps. “India has great potential in polo as our relationship with horses is centuries-old. If more people learnt the game, we could produce excellent players who could go on to represent India,” says Krishnawat. While one must wait to see how many go on to play the big games, the Club’s students are just happy to be learning and playing polo. “If not for The Chunda Club’s support and dada’s passion for the sport, it would have been hard for me to get access to the horses,” concludes Reena.