Imphal: In a first for Manipur’s polo circuit, two homegrown businesses, Eartheners and Unibrow Studio, have formally joined hands with Chingkhei Hunba Polo Club (CHPC), a premier club from Kongpal in Imphal East. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aims to preserve the heritage of Manipur’s indigenous polo and to support the players who keep it alive.
The club has built a name for itself in spite of limited infrastructure and financial assistance. In February this year, it won both the men’s and women’s finals of the Governor’s Cup.
A season-long commitment
Polo clubs and players in Manipur have earlier received backing from patrons and individual sponsors for specific tournaments. According to Soraisam Devakishor Singh, founder and managing director of Eartheners, this is the first time a local club has entered into an MoU with local businesses to be supported for an entire season.
Under the agreement, the two businesses will back the club through the polo season from October 2026 to April 2027. The support includes Rs 10,000 to the club for each tournament, a monthly honorarium of Rs 4,000 for each player, and sponsorship of club jerseys and polo equipment.
“Polo or Sagol Kangjei, which originates from Manipur, is an indigenous game in our state and we are also homegrown business owners. So, our effort, however small, is to support the local club and its players for the next seven months of the polo season and promote the game,” said Singh.
Singh also pointed to the club’s role in protecting the indigenous ponies. Everyone talks about saving the Manipuri pony, he said, but the club has been doing so quietly for years.
Telling the story of polo
For Tedawnshim Khaling, founder and director of Unibrow Studio, the association began through Devakishor, who introduced her to the world of polo while the two were working together on several projects. Until then, she had only come across the game in newspapers and other media.
“It is an exciting game and I feel that there is a stark difference between polo and other sports. That is why I thought I could help grow the club by telling their journey stories—about their ponies, the players and the polo matches,” said Khaling.
She noted that in other countries modern polo is regarded as a luxury played by the rich, while closer to its birthplace, the people associated with the game are struggling. Putting the story of polo on the map matters, she said, since modern polo originates from Manipur.
“In this digital era, we have the power in our hands to uplift each other and progress together,” she added, looking forward to the 2026-27 season partnership. “I think this partnership is just the start of this journey and we aimed to build an ecosystem for the club where everyone can grow and shine together.”
Support for the players
At the MoU signing event, each player received two sets of jerseys and a new polo mallet from the season partners.
Thoudam Thoinu Devi, president of the club, said, “Our players gave their time to polo and to their ponies out of love for the game.”
Kh Sunita Devi, Advisor to the club, expressed gratitude to the two businesses and hoped the collaboration would address some of the club’s basic challenges and lift the morale of the players. She said players often struggle to pay tournament fees, and she hoped the partnership would ease that burden to some extent in the coming season.
The pony question
The club owns about 100 ponies, Sunita Devi informed. Because of a lack of grazing fields in the Imphal area, the animals face a shortage of food, as they depend purely on green grasses.
The wider picture is equally pressing. Despite modern polo originating from Manipur, just over 1,000 ponies are recorded in the state, and at least 10 per cent of them are owned and cared for by this club. In 2025, to help pony owners and clubs supplement feed during the lean season, the state government released a total incentive of Rs 29,99,200 through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
Concern has also grown among owners and clubs after at least eight Manipuri ponies reportedly succumbed to illness last month. They had tested positive for Surra, caused by the parasite Trypanosoma evansi, in Kakching district.
A digital registry for the Manipuri pony
On Monday, Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh launched the Pony Registration System (PRS), a digital initiative for the systematic registration and unique identification of Manipuri ponies.
The portal will create a comprehensive database of ownership details and other relevant particulars. This will help with accurate population monitoring, traceability and scientific conservation planning for the indigenous breed, which holds immense cultural and historical significance for Manipur.
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