dandsand bethaks.Each of these “tra-
ditional” features is thoroughly modern
and contextualized by changing, rather
than stable, priorities.
Although wrestling is said to date
back to antiquity in South Asia, refer-
ences to the art in the Vedas, Upan-
ishads, as well as in the Mahabharata
and Ramayanaepics, are cryptic and
ambiguous. Two medieval texts, the
Manasollasa,a treatise on royal art and
culture in the Vijayanagar kingdom, and
the Mallapurana,a caste purana of the
Jyesthimalla Brahmans of western India,
provide more detailed accounts. What is
interesting about these two texts, how-
ever, is that they do not provide a very
useful framework—no better or worse
than accounts of the history of freestyle
wrestling, that is—for understanding
wrestling in contemporary India.
Whereas most contemporary Hindu
wrestlers emphasize the fundamental importance of a vegetarian diet, both
medieval texts prescribe a diet that includes meat, even for high-caste Brah-
mans. Contemporary wrestlers de-emphasize the caste identity of wrestlers,
saying that the sport breaks down hierarchy by producing a physiology “of
one color” based on a principle of embodied power. However, both me-
dieval texts use caste as an important, if problematic, criterion for ranked
classification. The medieval texts carefully delineate and differentiate the
kind of dietary regimen for different kinds of wrestlers, and recognize the
value of moderation and balanced consumption, whereas contemporary
wrestlers tend to single-mindedly advocate the hyperconsumption of milk,
ghi (clarified butter), and almonds. Correspondingly, whereas the medieval
texts seek to make a careful distinction between wrestlers on the basis of
age, skill, caste background, physical development, size, and competitive
preparedness, contemporary wrestlers tend to fetishize mass and muscula-
ture as developed through exercise and diet. Concerning exercise, it is note-
worthy that whereas contemporary wrestlers tend to exclusively do hun-
dreds if not thousands of fairly straightforward exercises—dands, a kind of
jackknifing push-up, and bethaks, rapid deep-knee bends—to build up
strength, the medieval texts catalog complex training regimens based on an
array of many more different kinds of exercise.
Wrestling and Grappling: India 721An early-twentieth-
century studio
photo of the
famous Indian
wrestler The Great
Gama (Ghulam
Mohammed,
1878–1960).
(Courtesy of Joe
Svinth)