Lelo or lelo burti (Georgian: ლელო ბურთი), literally a "field ball [playing]", is a Georgian folk sport, which is a full contact ball game, and very similar to rugby.[1] Within Georgian rugby union terminology, the word lelo is used to mean a try, and the popularity of rugby union in Georgia has also been attributed to it.[2] In 2014, lelo burti, along with khridoli, a traditional martial art, was inscribed by the government of Georgia as a "nonmaterial monument" of culture.[3]
It appears in the 12th century Georgian epic poem The Knight in the Panther's Skin in which the characters play lelo burti.
- ^ Bath, Richard (ed.) The Complete Book of Rugby (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ISBN 1-86200-013-1) p67
- ^ Louis, p39
- ^ Kalatozishvili, Georgy (16 April 2014). "Khridoli and leloburti are nonmaterial monuments of Georgia". Vestnik Kavkaza. Retrieved 1 May 2016.