Ballari: Young “pehalwans” (wrestlers) are groomed in and around Hampi and Hosapete, continuing the traditions of the Vijayanagar kings of old who had built an “akhada” or wrestling arena close to the royal enclosure.
The ancient “akadha” may now be dilapidated, but the world heritage site of Hampi continues to pay tribute to the ancient sport of “ Kusti” (wrestling), which is proving a huge crowd-puller at the Hampi Utsav, a three-day mega cultural festival that kicked off on Friday.
Wrestlers left the people in the audience who had come from in and around Hampi, Hosapete and other districts awestruck as they performed stunts like 'Kalavara Jung’, ‘Chobichat’, and ‘Kokkare.’
Besides pehalwans from Belagavi, Bagalakote, Vijayapura, Davanagere, Kampli, Hosapete and Siruguppa, several wrestlers from neighbouring Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and even Haryana and Delhi are competing in the utsav.
The makeshift wrestling arena in Kaddirampur village, can hold four wrestling matches at a time. Over 45 matches were held on Saturday as people cheered and egged on the participants, who number 70 in all.
