Pehelwans rising
from the soil
Indrajit Khambe
Kushti’s history in Kolhapur is relatively recent – only since the eighteenth
century – but the sport flourished here during the reign of Shri Chatrapati
Shahu Maharaj, the King of Kolhapur, who ascended the throne in 1894.
During this golden age, the monarch built hundreds of Akhadas all over the
city and held tournaments, inviting best wrestlers from all over India and
beyond. Kolhapur is a small city by India’s standards with a population of
some 700,000 nestled in the southwest corner of the state of Maharashtra.
Soil wrestling is under threat of disappearing. The reason behind is,
since Indian wrestlers won medals in Olympic, wresting authorities in
country pushing wrestlers to practice on a mat and train in the more
recognized wrestling style. The soil wrestling is not allowed in national
and international tournaments, though new generation wrestlers are not
interested to spend time for soil practice in akhadas. Once upon a time
there was hundreds of akhadas where wrestlers use to practice Kushti. Now
there are only 5 left in a whole city. This is why I think it’s very important to
document th is traditional wrestling for upcoming generations.
Indrajit Khambe (b.1981) is a
documentary
photographer
based
in Kankavli, a small town situated in
South West India near Goa-Maharashtra
Border. He is making images since 2012
and inspired by photographers like Josef
Koudelka, Robert Frank and India’s Pablo
Bartholomew. His work is exhibited in
Indian photography festival, Hyderabad
in 2015 and 2016. His work is published
in various magazines as well.
An Evening Session
Canon EOS 7D 22mm F/4 1/80s ISO3200