[1] The game is played with two sticks: a large one called a danda, which is used to hit a smaller one, the gilli.
[3][4] Gillidanda is known by various other names: Tip-cat in English, Iti-Dakar (اٽي ڏڪر) in Sindhi, guli-badi (ଗୁଲି ବାଡ଼ି) in Odia (regional variations dabalapua ଡାବଲପୁଆ and ପିଲବାଡ଼ି pilabadi in Phulbani and guti-dabula ଗୁଟିଡାବୁଳ in Balasore), gulli-ṭāṇ (𑂏𑂳𑂪𑂹𑂪𑂲 𑂗𑂰𑂝) in Bhojpuri, alak-doulak (الک دولک) in Persian, dānggűli (ডাঙ্গুলি) in Bengali, Tang Guti (টাং গুটি) in Assamese, chinni-kolu ಚಿನ್ನಿ ಕೋಲು in Kannada, kuttiyum kolum in Malayalam, vitti-dandu विट्टी दांडू in Marathi, Koyando-bal(कोयंडो बाल) in Konkani, kitti-pul (கிட்டி-புல்) in Tamil, Gooti-Billa (Andhra Pradesh) or Karra-Billa (Andhra Pradesh) or Billam-Godu (Andhra Pradesh) or chirra-gonay (in Telangana) in Telugu, Gulli-Danda (گُلی ڈنڈا/ਗੁੱਲ਼ੀ ਡੰਡਾ) in Punjabi, Geeti Danna (گیٹی ڈنا) in Saraiki, Ampra kaakay(am pra ka kay) in Pashto, Kon ko in Cambodian, Pathel Lele in Indonesian, syatong in Tagalog, awe petew in Ilonggo, çelikçomak in Turkish, ciang sat in Zomi language, "Đánh Trỏng" or "Đánh Khăng" in Vietnam, Quimbumbia in Cuba and Lippa in Italy.
In Bangladesh, it is known as ḍāṅguli khelā while in Nepali, it is known as dandi biyo (डण्डी बियो), which is a similar game.
The player then uses the danda to hit the gilli at the raised end, which flips it into the air.
The Bollywood movie Lagaan mentions the traditional youth sport of gillidanda as being similar to cricket.
The 2021 Nepali movie Damaru Ko Dandibiyo starring Khagendra Lamichhane portrays an underdog team winning the gillidanda league in the hills of Nepal.
The Hindi writer Premchand wrote a short story named "Gilli-danda" in which he compares old simple times and emotions to modern values and also hints at caste inequalities in India.
The protagonist and narrator of the story recounts his inability to play gilli-danda well in his youth.
The protagonist convinces him to play – he cheats at every opportunity, but his friend meekly submits, even though he would not have let him get away with such deceit in his youth.
The protagonist is shocked when he sees his friend play just as well as before and realises that he had indulged him because he knew that he had forgotten the basics of gilli-danda.