Akhara

An akhara (Sanskrit and Hindi: अखाड़ा, sometimes shortened to khara) is an Indian word for a place of practice with facilities for boarding, lodging and training. It can either refer to a training hall used by Indian martial artists or a monastery for religious renunciates. In the context of the Dashanami Sampradaya sect, the word denotes a regiment. In some languages such as Odia the word is officially transcribed as akhada, by way of rendering the flapped [ɽ] sound as a d. The Haryanvi and Khari Boli dialects shorten this to khada (खाड़ा).

Similar to the English word school, the term akhara can be used to mean both a physical institution or a group of them which share a common lineage or are under a single leadership. Unlike the gurukul in which students live and study at the home of a guru, members of an akhara do not live a domestic or homely life. Some strictly practice Brahmacharya (celibacy) and others may require complete renunciation of worldly life. For example, wrestlers are expected to live a pure life, refraining from sex and owning few material possessions.

Guru Hanuman

Guru Hanuman (Devanagari: गुरु हनुमान) (1901–1999) was a legendary wrestling coach of India who coached many medal-winning wrestlers. He was awarded the prestigious Dronacharya Award in 1988, the highest recognition for a sports coach in India, and the Padma Shri in 1983.

Early life

Guru was born as Vijay Pal on 15 March 1901, in the Chirawa town of Rajasthan state. He did not attend school, but began wrestling at the local village akhada from an early age. He moved to Delhi in 1919 to set up a shop near Birla Mills in Subzi Mundi, but instead became a wrestler and soon gained popularity in the field.

Career

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 1925, 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.