Northern areas of Pakistan are not famous just for their natural beauty in all over the world, but also for their traditional, and historical sport event too. The visitors of all over the country and from the world every year setup their tours to visit Northern areas of Pakistan to spend their time with joy. There is no doubt to say that the visitors who once traveled these areas did not forget the pleasurable moments while discovering these areas and they feel proud while enjoying the natural sceneries of these areas as well attending and become a part of the polo game that has been held every year in Shandur top and known as Shadur Mela.
Polo is very famous in the northern areas due to its hardness and the people of the hilly areas naturally like the hardness due to their hard lifestyle. There is a polo ground in every village that belongs from Chtral and Gilgi Bilistan regions. The males and the younger are like and play this game because polo is just like a symbol of bravery near them.
Shandur is an area situated in Gilgit Biltistan is hosting a historical sport event of the royal game of polo since 1936. This sport and cultural event held every year in the month of July. The participant teams belong from Gilgit Biltistan and Chitral areas. The selection criteria of the teams are very strict due to the cultural and historical value of the Shandur Mela. Each team consists of six players with two or three reserve players. The selection of the six best players is completed after some matches. These matches are played among the local teams, and the best performer of each team is the chosen one. The selection of healthy and powerful horses is also important, and it played a vital role for the victory.
This symbolic event is held for three days every year. The matches of polo starts from the day first between the local teams and on the final day the two most top teams of both the regions are stand against each other for the final bout of one hour match with one interval of ten minutes long.
There is a winner and a loser in almost every game so the same in polo too. The winners celebrated their win with joy. There are a lot of noises can be heard while the matches being played that are the voices of the visitors and also the traditional musical instruments of the areas. The polo ground of Shandur top considered as the highest ground in the world. The historical polo match makes this cultural event worldwide famous and considered one of the cultural symbol of Pakistan.
