The genesis of National Games is in the Olympic movement, which gathered momentum in the country in the twenties of the last century. It aimed at promoting the Olympic Sports in the country. The culmination of this movement was the launching of the 9th edition of the Indian Olympic Games at Lahore in the undivided Punjab in 1924. The competitions were held in every two years in one or other major city of the country ever since. The Indian Olympic Games was held as National Games from 1940 onwards. The city of Lucknow hosted National Games for the first time after independence. The duration and the regulations of the National Games are entirely within the jurisdiction of the Indian Olympic Association. Although the periodicity of National games is two years it is not allowed to coincide with the years scheduled for the conduct of Olympic Games and Asian Games.

It is for the second time National Games is coming to Kerala. The first occasion was in 1987 when the 27th National Games was held at Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, Alappuzha, Kochi, Thrissur and Kollam.

XXXIV	Ranchi	2011
XXXIII	Guwahati	2007
XXXII	Hyderabad	2002
XXXI	Punjab (Ludhiana-Jalandhar-Patiala-Anandpur Sahib-Chandigarh)	2001
XXX	Manipur	1999
XXIX	Karnataka (Bangalore-Mysore)	1997
XXVIII	Maharashtra (Pune-Mumbai)	1994
XXVII	Kerala (Trivandrum-Calicut-Allepy-Ernakulam-Cochin-Tricur-Quilon)	1987
XXVI	Delhi	1985
XXV	Hyderabad	1979
XXIV	Cuttack	1970
XXIII	Madras	1968
XXII	Bangalore	1966
XXI	Calcutta	1964
XX	Jabalpur	1962
XIX	Delhi	1960
XVIII	Cuttack	1958
XVII	Patiala	1956
XVI	Delhi	1954
XV	Jabalpur	1953
XIV	Madras	1952
XIII	Lucknow	1948
XII	Lahore	1946
XI	Lahore	1944
X	Patiala	1942
IX	Bombay	1940
VIII	Calcutta	1938
VII	Lahore	1936
VI	Delhi	1934
V	Madras	1932
IV	Alahabad	1930
III	Lahore	1928
II	Lahore	1924
I	Lahore	1924