ABOUT

The game is a combination of rugby and wrestling, no rules, no limit of time or number of players. A 16 kilograms leather ball filled with sand and red wine. Two teams, Lower and Upper Shukhuti, compete on the day of Orthodox Easter on a 200 square meter field bordered by two streams. A gunshot kicks off the game, and the first launch is awarded to the village priest, Mama Saba. The game ends when a team manages brings the ball over the stream belonging to the opposing team. Traditionally at the end of the game the winning team goes to the cemetery to place the ball on the grave of one of the last deceased players belonging to the same team.
Lelo is one of the oldest Georgian words and literally means "get something by force". It is a pagan game that is now recognized by the Orthodox church. It is a local sport, it is tradition but most of all it is passion, strength, faith and devotion.