In Hinduism, Akhara (also akhada, literally "wrestling arena") is an organization of the different sects of Sadhus Vairaghis yogis or Hindu Renunciates. Its history dates back to the circa 2500 BC when Adi Shankaracharya established seven Akharas(possibly 10 as they are also known as Dasnaami), Mahanirvani, Niranjani, Atal, Avahan, Agni and Anand Akhara. Some yogis link these akharas to Gorakhnath rather than to Shankaracharya. Today there are 3 major Akharas (Mahanirvani, Niranjani and 3 minor Akharas (Atal affiliated with Mahanirvani, Anand affiliated with Niranjan. Furthermore there is one small Brahmachari Akhara named Agni. There also numerous minor Akhara's usually set up by disciples as an affiliate to the major group or sometimes due to disagreements on succession or Gurudev of an Akhara.

Akharas are divided into different types according to the concept of God they worship. Shaiva Akharas for followers of Lord Shiva, Vaishnava or Vairagi Akhara for followers of Lord Vishnu and Kalpwasis for followers of Lord Brahma.

Guru Hanuman (Devanagari: गुरु हनुमान) (1930–1999) was a legendary wrestling coach of India who coached many medal-winning wrestlers. He was awarded the prestigious Dronacharya Award in 1987, the highest recognition for a sports coach in India, and the Padma Shri in 1983.

Guru was born as Vijay Pal on 15 March 1930, in Chirawa in Rajasthan state. He did not attend school, but began wrestling at the local village akhada from an early age. He moved to Delhi in 1954 to set up a shop near Birla Mills in Subzi Mundi, but instead became a wrestler and soon gained popularity in the field.

The Indian industrialist K. K. Birla gave him land to set up Akhara at in Malkaganj, Subzi Mandi (Old Delhi), thus 'Birla Mills Vyayamshala' was born around 1955, which in time became the Guru Hanuman Akhara.

Both as a wrestler and as a coach, Guru Hanuman was a legend as he created a template for modern Indian wrestling, by mixing traditional Indian wrestling style, pehlwani with international wrestling standards. In time he coached almost all of India's freestyle international wrestlers. Three of his disciples Sudesh Kumar, Prem Nath and Ved Prakash won gold medals at the Cardiff Commonwealth Games in 1972. Other notable disciples, Satpal and Kartar Singh won gold medals in Asian Games in 1982 and 1986 respectively. Eight of his disciples got the highest Indian sporting honour Arjuna award.

Kuldeep Manak (Punjabi: ਕੁਲਦੀਪ ਮਾਣਕ‌) was a noted Punjabi singer from Indian Punjab. He was best known for singing a rare genre of Punjabi music, Kali, known by its plural from kalian or kaliyan.

Manak was born as Latif Muhammad (Urdu: لطیف محمد) on 15 November 1951, to father Nikka Khan, in the village of Jalal in Bathinda district of East Punjab. He completed his matriculation from the village school, where he was a keen field hockey player. He had an inclination towards singing from a very young age and was persuaded by his teachers to sing and perform on stage.

Manak's father, Nikka Khan, was a singer himself. Manak had two brothers: Siddqui, a devotional singer, and Rafiq, a tantric, who was also briefly noted. Kuldeep Manak's ancestors were the Hazoori Raagis (designated cantors) of Kirtan for Maharaja Hira Singh of Nabha.

He was married to Sarabjeet and had two children, a son named Yudhvir Manak and a daughter named Shakti. They both are married. Yudhvir is following in his father's footsteps as a singer.

S. Tarlochan Singh (born 28 July 1933) is an Indian politician. He is a Member of the Parliament of India, representing Haryana. He served as Chairman National Commission for Minorities from 2003 to 2006 (Union Cabinet of India cabinet minister status), was member, National Human Rights Commission of India, Govt. of India, 2003 to 2006. He served as Vice Chairman, National Commission for Minorities from 2000 to 2003 (Union Cabinet of India, State Minister Rank).

He has done tremendous work for Sikhs around the world. He made huge efforts for the rescue and settlement of sikhs from Afghanistan after the civil war there. He published calendars and developed museums on Sikh history. He has traveled worldwide to educate people about the teachings and values of Sikhism. In 2008 he visited Maine in United States to give lectures on Sikhism to the students of Colby College.

Tarlochan Singh was born on 28 July 1933, to Shmt. Ram Piari and S. Balwant Singh in Dhudial, Punjab (now in Jhelum District, Pakistan). He is the eldest amongst three siblings. He did his early schooling in Khalsa School at Dhudial and then moved to Patiala at the time of Partition in 1947. The time after Partition was very difficult time for him and his family. For some time he had to work along with his studies. He went to the Panjab University, Chandigarh to study Economics and attained his master's degree in 1955. He is an alumnus of Mohindra College of Patiala.