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Tennis In Coonoor Nilgiri Hills Ooty 1894- Old Photo
This is an old photo of a tennis match in progress in Coonoor Nilgiri Hills near Ooty. Dating to 1894. Tennis was just around 20 years old since it arrived in India around the 1870s from England. See my post- Old Photograph – Game Of Tennis British India 1885. The sport soon started gaining popularity in the British colonial establishments throughout the country.
Civilian clubs and army messes were to popularize it still further, see this photograph of one such club. So much so that many tournaments started being held increasingly. Likewise, the Britishers imported many other sports into colonial India such as- cricket, football, horseracing, and so on. This is a rare photograph and shows the game being played in two courts with a brief pause while the photoshoot was in progress.
Englishmen, ladies with Indian attendants are also visible in the photo. Because of the cool English like climate, Coonoor and Ooty were their favourite hill stations in the south.
Did you know- it is recorded that Gautama Buddha was skilled sportsman he specialized in horsemanship, wrestling and archery before his marriage.
From the collection- Raja Ravi Varma’s “Birth of Shakuntala” Oleograph 1894., Vintage Book 1939 – The Handbook of India., Antique Print First Passenger Train From Bombay to Thane 1853., Vintage Postcard Wellington Barracks Nilgiris 1905
