Misrigunj keeps 400-year-old tradition alive

Hyderabad: The Old City is a mosaic of time, showing landmarks of different eras beginning from Qutb Shahi era to the modern times. Being a repository of real Hyderabad, it has kept one of the unique traditions of bygone Hyderabad alive — wrestling.

The Dargah of Hazarath Akber Hussaini in Misrigunj is not only a Sufi shrine but also a place for the young and old to learn wrestling. The saint, passionate about training as a warrior, set up the wrestling arena almost 400 years ago.

The practice was forgotten after his death. It was revived 70 years ago by a devotee named Ustad Ali Mukharis, whose large portrait hangs in the gym area today.

The practice, commonly known as ‘dangal’ or 'taleem', used to drive hundreds of students as long as Mukharis lived and trained young boys. “In the 1980s, kushti was a popular sport among boys. Hundreds of them would turn up for either bodybuilding or kushti,” said Mohammed Ibrahim, a trainer.

The interest of the Ustad in teaching dangal as an art form led to its popularisation. One of his students, Riyaz Pehalwan took the tradition forward. Despite being 72-year-old today, he trains about 50 adults and 200 boys every evening.

While the nature of the practice has changed over the years, transforming into a modern sport from a traditional art form, it is only the interest of the trainers and students that has kept the age-old tradition alive.

“Many of our boys have participated in the state and national level wrestling events. A few even won medals,” said Ibrahim. The akhada has been running on a nominal admission fee of `300, which goes into nurturing the soil of the wrestling area and buying equipment.

“Now, as the game has become more formal, we have to practise on wrestling mats instead of on soil. The mats need to be replaced from time to time,” Ibrahim added.