Latest news with #Kolhapur
Free Malaysia Today
4 days ago
- General
- Free Malaysia Today
Rooted in the earth, India's traditional mud wrestling thrives
This style of wrestling, known as 'kushti' or 'dangal', has millennia-old roots but emerged during the period of India's Mughal rulers in the 16th century. (AFP pic) KOLHĀPUR: Crowds cheer as muscular men in tight loincloths slap sacred scented soil on their bulging thighs and arms for a mud wrestling bout in India. 'When we fight, we sweat,' said 33-year-old Mauli Jamdade, a wrestling star in Maharashtra state, rubbing red-brown earth onto his body for each clash. 'The mud gives us grip and helps us grapple better.' Unlike conventional wrestling matches played on mats with regulated draws, India's mud wrestling is more raw – but has been the training ground for Olympic success. This style of wrestling, known as 'kushti' or 'dangal', has millennia-old roots but emerged during the period of India's Mughal rulers in the 16th century, blending traditional hand-to-hand combat with Persian martial arts. There are no blows or kicking, but plenty of throws to the ground, and it remains hugely popular. It took Jamdade over 15 minutes to defeat his rival, starting with a slow circling dance then twisting, turning and locking arms, before he pinned him down. The bout ends when one wrestler pins his opponent's back to the mud, irrespective of how long it takes. From mud into the Olympics Both men and women Indian wrestlers have won medals at the Olympics and Commonwealth Games in the more regulated form of the sport. But it is the mud, not mat, version that is popular in swathes of rural areas – with supporters saying it is not just a spectacle but a tradition that many want to uphold. Bank cashier Anil Harale ended his wrestling career after injuring his leg, but after work still slips out of his office clothes for a dirty wrestle. 'I miss it,' said the 46-year-old, who hopes his 'unfulfilled dream' will be realised by his teenage son, an aspiring wrestler. Wrestler KD Jadhav, who took bronze at the 1952 Olympics – the first Indian to win an individual Olympic medal – began his sporting career as a mud wrestler in Kolhapur, a city in Maharashtra. 'It is from mud that wrestlers reach the Olympics,' said excited fan Sachin Mote, among hundreds cheering the wrestlers at a bout. Mud, milk, oil Kolhapur is a core base of the sport with its centuries-old residential gymnasiums known as talims. Jamdadejoined the Gangavesh talim is aged 14. A picture of the Hindu monkey god Hanuman – a deity worshipped by wrestlers for his strength and devotion – gazes over waist-deep pits where the soil is dug. The earth is mixed with turmeric, yoghurt and milk, as well as neem tree leaves and oil, before it is ploughed and smoothened across the ring. For the wrestlers, the soil is sacred. 'It is everything,' said Jamdade. 'There is nothing without it.' More than a hundred wrestlers – some as young as 10 – train at the talim. It is an austere life. The rigorous training includes waking up before dawn, running, hundreds of push-ups, rope climbing and grappling. Tobacco and alcohol are strictly prohibited, phone usage is restricted and pre-marital relationships are considered a distraction. 'Never end' For Jamdade, the first year at the talim was all about gaining weight – and that is an expensive affair. 'There are people who weigh 125-130 kilos,' he said. 'To fight with them, and match their strength, I need to be at least 120 kilos.' So when he is not in the ring or training, Jamdade focuses on eating. That includes at least five kilos of goat meat each week, some 70 egg whites, 24 apples, leafy vegetables and dry fruits. He washes that down with at least 21 litres of milk, 14 litres of sweet lemon juice and a protein shake made with almonds, cashews, honey, cardamom seeds, honey and milk. His monthly food bill totals US$350 but the prize money he has won helps his family, who are from a poor farming background. Winnings range from a few hundred dollars to US$1,700 – more than the annual average income of an agricultural household in India. While the popularity of more organised wrestling on mats has grown, Jamdade believes mud bouts have a safe future as a core part of village fairs. 'Fairs will always continue,' he said. 'Mud wrestling will never end.'
BBC News
23-05-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Jayant Narlikar: Remembering the Indian scientist who challenged the Big Bang theory
In his 1983 science fiction story, an Indian astrophysicist predicted what schools would look like in 2050. Jayant Narlikar envisioned a scene where an alien, living among humans, would sit in front of a screen and attend online classes. The aliens are yet to manifest, but online classes became a reality for students far sooner, in 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic also famously proposed an alternative to the Big Bang Theory - the popular idea that the universe was created in a single moment from a single point. He believed that the universe had always existed, expanding continuously into his passing on Tuesday, India lost one of its most celebrated astrophysicists. Narlikar was 86 - a man far ahead of his times and someone who shaped a generation of Indian researchers through his lifelong dedication to science funeral was attended by hundreds, from school children to renowned scientists and even his housekeeping staff, underscoring the profound impact he had on society. Born on 19 July, 1938, in the town of Kolhapur in the western state of Maharashtra, Narlikar was raised in a home steeped in academic tradition. His father, Vishnu Narlikar, was a professor and mathematician, and mother Sumati was a scholar of the Sanskrit in his parents footsteps, the studious Narlikar went to Cambridge University for higher studies where topped a highly prestigious mathematical course. He also took a deep interest in astrophysics and his most significant episode at Cambridge was his association with his PhD guide, physicist Sir Fred Hoyle. Together, Narlikar and Hoyle laid the groundwork for a revolutionary alternative to the popular Big Bang two physicists contested the Big Bang Theory, which posits that all matter and energy in the universe came into existence in one single instance about 13.8 billion years Hoyle-Narlikar theory boldly proposed the continuous creation of new matter in an infinite universe. Their theory was based on what they called a quasi-steady state his autobiography, My Tale of Four Cities, Narlikar used a banking analogy to explain the theory. "To understand this concept better, think of capital invested in a bank which offers a fixed rate of compound interest. That is, the interest accrued is constantly added to the capital which therefore grows too, along with the interest." He explained that the universe expanded like the capital with compound interest. However, as the name 'steady state' implies, the universe always looks the same to the Somak Raychaudhury says that though Narlikar's theory isn't as popular as the Big Bang, it is still useful."He advanced mechanisms by which matter could be continually created and destroyed in an infinite universe," Raychaudhary said. "While the Big Bang model gained broader acceptance, many tools developed for the steady-state model remain useful today," he addedRaychaudhary recollects that even after Hoyle began to entertain elements of the Big Bang theory, Narlikar remained committed to the steady-state theory. A sign outside his office fittingly stated: "The Big Bang is an exploding myth." Narlikar stayed in the UK till 1971 as a Fellow at King's College and a founding member of the Institute of Theoretical Astronomy. As he shot to global fame in the astrophysics circles, the science community in India took note of his 1972, he returned to India and immediately took charge of the Theoretical Astrophysics Group at the coveted Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, which he led it till his biggest contribution to India was the creation of an institution dedicated to cutting-edge research and the democratisation of dream materialised in 1988, when Narlikar, along with other distinguished scientists, founded the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) in Pune city in western a modest 100sq ft room, IUCAA has gone on to become an internationally respected institution for astronomy and astrophysics. Narlikar served as its founder-director till 2003, and continued to be an emeritus professor after insisted that IUCAA should include programs aimed at school children and the general public. Monthly lectures, science camps, and workshops became regular Narlikar's vision for the institution, science educator Arvind Gupta says, "He said PhD scholars don't fall from the sky, you must catch them young. He offered me a place to stay, told me to try running the children's science centre for six months, and I ended up staying 11 years. He gave me wings to fly."Despite being a prolific scholar who published over 300 research papers, Narlikar never confined himself to being just a scientist. He also authored many science fiction books that have been translated into multiple stories were often grounded in scientific a story called Virus, published in 2015, he envisioned a pandemic taking over the world; his 1986 book Waman Parat Na Ala (The Return of Vaman), tackled the ethical dilemmas of artificial Dhurandhar, who was part of the Indian team that contributed to the physical detection of gravitational waves in 2015, recalled how Narlikar inspired him to attempt the unthinkable."He gave me a complex problem early in my research. After I struggled for a week, he solved it on the board in 15 minutes - not to show superiority, but to guide and inspire. His openness to gravitational waves was what gave me the courage to pursue it."A well-known rationalist, Narlikar also took it upon himself to challenge pseudoscience. In 2008, he co-authored a paper that challenged astrology using a statistical said that his motivation to challenge pseudoscience came from the belief system of questioning everything that did not have a scientific basis. But when it came to science, Narlikar believed in exploring the slimmest of his last days, Narlikar continued doing what he loved most - replying to children's letters and writing about science on his blog.
