Bhubaneswar: Guinness Book of Records has officially recognised Birsa Munda Stadium in Odisha’s Rourkela as the world’s largest-seated hockey stadium. It was one of the two venues for the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup, which would conclude on Sunday.
VK Pandian, 5T Secretary, shared the news on his Instagram account and also a video of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s reaction to the feat.
“That indeed is thrilling news. I am truly delighted that the Guinness Book of Records had recognised the Birsa Munda Stadium in Rourkela to be the biggest hockey stadium in the world. I congratulate the people of Odisha and the team that made this possible,” the CM said.
“I am amazed that it has been built in 15 months. It’s truly a great accomplishment for the people of Odisha,” he added.
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This has sealed the debate over its largest stadium status, which was earlier certified by FIH and confirmed by its president Tayyab Ikram.
The stadium, named after Indian freedom fighter Birsa Munda, has been built over 50 acres of land inside the Biju Patnaik University of Technology campus in Sundargarh district regarded as the cradle of Indian hockey that has churned out the likes of Dilip Tirkey, Amit Rohidas and Birendra Lakra.
While more spectators can be accommodated in the terrace seating arrangements of National Hockey Stadium in Lahore, the Chandigarh Hockey Stadium and the Weingart Stadium in Los Angeles, Birsa Munda has 20,846 bucket seats, making it the largest in terms of seating capacity.
The picturesque stadium, built in a record 15 months, boasts two world-class FIH-approved turfs for hockey, apart from gymnasiums and World Cup Village, which can house over eight teams. Twenty of the 44 hockey World Cup matches were played at this stadium.
