Login Register
Follow Us

Working its way up the pole

The name is mallakhamb — a sport as earthy and wooden as the name. Ask its practitioners about the risks involved, and they will warn you of possible death, permanent disability, brain haemorrhage, broken bones and dislocated joints.

Show comments

Gaurav Kanthwal

The name is mallakhamb — a sport as earthy and wooden as the name. Ask its practitioners about the risks involved, and they will warn you of possible death, permanent disability, brain haemorrhage, broken bones and dislocated joints. No wonder, the centuries-old indigenous sport, steeped in tradition, complexity and mysticism, continues to struggle for mass following. Thankfully, reality shows on TV, the merchants of audio-visual merchandise, have spotted the inherent visual delight in mallakhamb, and that has given the sport a new lease of life. Almost all talent hunt shows these days have at least one performance by mallakhamb gymnasts, weaved in with a song and dance sequence. Twisting, twirling and curling on the eight-foot wooden pole, they display their flexibility, skills, athleticism and daredevilry.

A couple of years back, when the mallakhamb gymnasts first strutted their stuff in front of the Indian TV audience, they left everyone astonished and wondering whether what they saw was for real. The disbelief soon gave way to curiosity — who are these daredevils, what background do they come from, where do they train, and what is their motivation to perform such hair-raising feats? That’s the time when mallakhamb vaulted into spotlight from almost complete obscurity. “TV shows have given mallakhamb gymnasts the belief that they too have a future, what they do has some worth. The belief that if we do it well, we will also get international name and fame,” says Rajesh Mudki, the first Indian to feature in the International Cirque Du Soleil (French for Circus of the Sun) show Bazzar.

For centuries, Mallakhamb has existed on the margins of wrestling and performing arts. A rural, earthy sport of the past with bare minimum paraphernalia but exceptional skills and visual appeal has married the song and dance sequence to sneak into popular culture. Incidentally, Bollywood starlets Adah Sharma (Commando 2, 1920 fame) and Smilie Suri (Kalyug fame) have taken to the sport to further their career in the film industry. Isha Sharvani, however, was the first to perform rope mallakhamb sequences in the Subhash Ghai-directed Kisna (2005).

One sport, many facets 

Currently, mallakhamb has morphed into a martial art, competitive sport, performing art, a variation of yoga and a circus apparatus. Various international theatre productions, reputed circus houses are showing keen interest in incorporating the sport in their acts. Delia Ceruti, 36, an aerialist and physical performer from Italy, has had many training stints at Shree Samartha Vyayam Mandir (SSVM) in Dadar, Mumbai. As a competitive sport, too, mallakhamb is showing signs of revival. India hosted the first Mallakhamb World Championship in Mumbai earlier this year. The two-day tournament had contestants from 15 countries — Spain, Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, USA, Iran, Norway, England, France, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Vietnam, Bahrain, and hosts India. Not surprisingly, India won the team championship with 244.73 points. Singapore bagged the second spot with 44.45 points while Malaysia finished third with 30.22 points. The organisers say the event cost them around 1.73 crore, much of which came from corporates. 

Mumbai nursery 

SSVM is the most famous nursery of the sport, with coach Uday Deshpande as its venerated guru. There are several other small pockets in the country, especially in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, where this sport is still alive. Closer home, Amritsar, too, has a mallakhamb training centre at the Guru Nanak Dev University campus.

Deshpande, also the director and secretary general of the Vishwa Mallakhamb Federation, the global body, says, “If mallakhamb has gained international recognition, it is only due to aerial acrobatics and complex yoga asanas performed by the athletes. Reality shows are the new medium through which mallakhamb performers have won popularity.”

The beginning

The first National Mallakhamb Championship was held at Gwalior in 1962 as part of the National Gymnastics Championships. The competition, however, was  discontinued in 1976 when the Gymnastics Federation of India (GFI) disassociated itself from the mallakhamb body. In 1968-69, the indigenous sport was introduced in the All India Inter-University Gymnastics Championship. In 1981, the Mallakhamb Federation of India was formed, and since then the body has been organising annual competitions. Mallakhamb was declared the state sport of Madhya Pradesh in 2013. As many as 20 other states have adopted this game now, and it has been recognised as one of the national sports by the Indian government. The Indian Olympic Association, however, acknowledges it as one of the indigenous sport of the country.

Originally, mallakhamb was developed as a fitness routine for wrestlers to help them enhance their control over their body and breath, and increase their concentration and flexibility. It improves strength, stamina, speed, endurance, flexibility and the neuro- muscular coordination in body. Historical accounts trace its origin to the 12th century in Maharashtra. The earliest mention of mallakhamb appears in ancient text Manasollasa (1135 AD), in which it is described as a detailed instruction manual for the military training of young Chalukyan princes, written by the Chalukyan King Somesvara III. It was revived by Balambhatta Dada Deodhar, who trained Peshwa Bajirao II in the 19th century. It made its international debut in 1936 during the Berlin Olympics as an exhibition sport.

Vivek Chaudhary, former Chief Sports Correspondent, The Guardian, in his book Kabaddi by Nature, writes that Adolf Hitler was so impressed with the kabaddi and mallakhamb athletes that he presented them an honorary medal, and enquired, “Does your team represent the average Indian.” 

Deshpande says that by the time next World Championships is held in New York in 2021, mallakhamb is expected to be a familiar name. Already, the signs are there to see. Since 2004, two mallakhamb camps are conducted annually in Munich by Yoga Forum, where 50 German children receive training every year. On June 21, 2017, the International Yoga Day, mallakhamb was demonstrated on the premises of the United Nations in New York. Last year, mallakhamb made its presence felt at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.  The mallakhamb performers have become a permanent fixture at the Khelo India Youth Games for the last two years. This year, mallakhamb made its entry into Sydney Festival (January 2019). “We are organising a camp in Mumbai from April 17 to 25, where close to 2,000 enthusiasts will be introduced to the sport. We aim to popularise this sport with such camps,” Deshpande said.

Pole dance is a sport too!

Pole dance, the erotic dance form, is a provisionally recognised sport by the Global Association of International Sports Federation (GAISF). On October 2, 2017, it was granted an observer status by the international body, the first step towards achieving a full member status of GAISF. International Pole Sports Federation (IPSF) organises events in youth, mixed doubles and para categories. IPSF organised the first Pole World Championships in 2012. In July 2018, more than 200 athletes participated in the Pole World Championships held at Tarragona in Spain. 

Different formats 

The sport has three variants: pole, also called mallakhamb, rope mallakhamb, and hanging pole (pole tied to a rope with a hook). Traditionally, men perform mallakhamb on a vertical pole, and girls do it on a rope. A female mallakhamb athlete needs a lot of strength because the rope, 5.5m long and 2cm thick, is gripped entirely with the toes, with no involvement of the hands. The rope, though, could be wrapped around a body part at any point of time. Experts say it’s the most difficult part, especially for novices, as the toes hurt a lot and the fear of height kicks in the moment hands are taken off the rope. Once this barrier is overcome, the athletes learn to perform asnas, hang upside down and sideways. Besides physical strength and flexibility, mental toughness and concentration is required to pull off such daring feats. In competitive mallakhamb, an athlete must perform a set of exercises in 60-90 seconds without coming down.

Made of Indian teak or sheesham, the pole is 2.6m (8.5ft) in height with a circumference of 55cm at the base, 45cm in the middle, and 30cm at the upper end. The pole has a neck-like feature at the top with a height of 20cm, circumference 15cm, and the radius of the knob at the top is 13 cm.

Show comments
Show comments

Top News

Most Read In 24 Hours