Combining dexterity and agility with strength and stamina, Mallakhamb is a tradition of gymnastics that requires a gymnast to perform acrobatics while balancing gracefully on a vertical pole.

It would be worth beginning this account with an explanation of what the name ‘Mallakhamb’ means. It is a combination of ‘Mall’ which is a gymnast or a man of strength and ‘Khamb’, a pole. So, a combination of the two literally means a gymnast’s pole. Akin to the better-known ‘Pole Dancing’, this traditional Indian sport finds its origins in Ancient India, with early mentions in Chalukya’s ‘Manas Olhas’, written in 1135 A.D. After this period though, there is very little mention of the sport until it was revived by Shri Balabhatta Dada Deodhar in the mid-nineteenth Century. This is why he is known as the father of Mallakhamb.

When Balambhatta was sixteen he came with his parents to Pune where his father Shri Janardhan Bhatt, assisted Peshwa Bajirao II with religious duties. There, young Balambhatta not only excelled in the Vedas but also in sports. He started training as a wrestler under the guidance of Guru Raghobha Vastad in his Akhada (a place of wrestling). The young man’s capacity to learn and work hard quickly made him popular in his Akhada and by the age of twenty, he became well-known in the entire region of Pune. The Peshwar Durbar of course, boasted of many other excellent wrestlers and so they hardly lost any matches to outsiders. At this time, accomplished wrestlers from all over the country visited the region.

Once, two professional heavy-weight wrestlers – Ali and Gulab – visited Pune after successful stints in Akhadas all over the country. They challenged wrestlers in the region but no one responded because they were unsure of whether they could face the two men who possessed . such daunting physiques and flawless records. No wrestler in the Peshwa Durbar was prepared to accept their challenge. There was only one exception – Balambhatta. He requested the permission of Bajirao Peshwa to take on the two wrestlers, asking for a month time to prepare himself then, taking his mother’s blessing at Kothure village, he left for the serene Saptashrungi Mountains, where he performed strict penance for twenty one days. Finally, the Goddess of Saptashrungi blessed him and informed him that Lord Hanuman, in the form of a monkey, would teach him some tricks. For three successive days a monkey is said to have appeared and demonstrated some techniques. Balambhatta practiced these techniques on a wooden pole until he mastered them. This is said to be the origin of modern Mallakhamb. He then went back to Kothure and made himself a Mallakhamb about five to six feet high and practiced on this pole till the day of the fight.

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