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In the ring of faith: Ayodhya’s spiritual warriors gear up for consecration
“I was just 17, when I came to this place to become a wrestler and to serve as priest at the Hanuman Garhi. I have seen the bad and good days, including the demolition of disputed structure and its aftermath,” said Gangadas.
Ram and wrestling go hand in hand here in Ayodhya. If one asks Baaba Gangadas about his love for sports and Lord Ram, his eyes start blinking in excitement. Almost 53 years ago, he came all the way from Jalaun with a sole purpose of becoming a wrestler and a priest, following the age-old tradition in this holy city.
He is not alone as over 500 sadhus and priests here in Ayodhya have a special love for wrestling, as it is another aspect of their lifestyle. All these sadhus, along with 50-odd trainees at the 10th-century-old Hanuman Garhi akhara, are excited to be part of the mega-consecration ceremony of the Ram temple, scheduled for January 22.
“I was just 17, when I came to this place to become a wrestler and to serve as priest at the Hanuman Garhi. I have seen the bad and good days, including the demolition of disputed structure and its aftermath. We all are waiting for this auspicious day, when Lord Ram gets his own ‘Bhavya Mandir’ here,” said Gangadas.
“Wrestling is not only the source of entertainment for sadhus here, but it also teaches them how to win against odds, and before this auspicious day (January 22), we have seen many odds.”
“Our akhara has got an ad hoc wrestling coach for the training of our young sadhus-cum-wrestlers,” he added.
The lives of wrestlers here are not easy as they do a lot of hard work before the start of training every day. “They begin their day at 4.30 AM with offering of prayers at Hanuman Garhi before entering the muddy wrestling court, located adjacent to the temple,” said Gangadas.
“It’s a routine that we never skip, even during COVID-19 pandemic, our wrestlers did not stop training,” he added.
“Baaba Hari Shanker Das bagged the title of ‘Bharat Kesari’ in 1972, the first-ever for the Hanuman Garhi akhara and during the last 50 years many other wrestlers have made the temple, district and state proud by winning several medals at the state and national levels. Other big names of the akhara are Narayndas alias ‘Bubbuli Baaba’ and Dayaram,” he informed.
“During wrestling matches the wrestler-priests chants the name of Lord hanuman and some even sing Hanuman Chalisa as they feel it gives them strength to fight,” said Gangadas, adding that if one is physically fit he will be able to serve the God for a longer period in his life.
The best part of this Hanuman Garhi akhara is that it’s open for everyone, including wrestlers of other caste, creed and religion. “Meharuddin, Janardan Singh, Buddha Pahalwan and many more non-Hindus have been part of this akhara as here in Ayodhya, we don’t differentiate people on the basis of caste, creed and religion as we believe that Saryu has many ghats, but it water remains the same for everyone,” said Gangadas.
Meanwhile, Ratandas, 18, one of the young wrestlers of the akahara, hopes that with so much emphasis on sports development in the last few years in the country, this akhara will also get to see a major shakeup in coming days. “We need wrestling mats as practicing on muddy ground will not help us go long in the sport,” he said.
“The sports world has changed, and we need to have the modern equipment as well in order to compete at national level and get a chance to represent India at the Olympics,” he said.
Ayodhya’s Regional Sports Officer, Chanchal Mishra said that the state government had already established a girl’s hostel for 20 wrestling inmates and had been producing good talents.
