An adult wrestler sat caked in mud and sweat after a long and intense day of training. KOLHAPUR, INDIA: THESE wrestlers train for SEVENTEEN HOURS a da
An adult wrestler sat caked in mud and sweat after a long and intense day of training. KOLHAPUR, INDIA: THESE wrestlers train for SEVENTEEN HOURS a day ? starting when they are just SIX years old. In one image, two young men stood head-to-head as they prepared for a practice fight in the akhara?s red-sand pit surrounded by their peers. In another, an adult wrestler stood caked in mud and sweat after a long and intense day of training. Photographer Srivatsan Sankaran (30) from Chennai, India, spent two days in Kolhapur, India, where he captured these incredible images of the region?s Pehlwani wrestlers. Also known as Kushti wrestling, the practice of Pehlwani was thought to have originated during India?s Mughal Empire which lasted from the 16th to the 19th century. Although the exact origins are unknown, the fighting style could be over 500 years old. Participants of the sport are known as pehlwans and join an akhara - a training school - usually during their teens although some fighters are as young as six years old. A typical training day consists of exercise, running, swimming, weightlifting, and many hours of wrestling. The entire routine lasts for around 17 hours a day beginning at three in the morning. / Srivatsan Sankaran
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Photo credit: © Media Drum World / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: battle, drum, fight, kushti, mdrum, mdrumf, mdw, mdwf, mdwfeatures, media, mediadrumworld., pehlwani, school, skill, spectators, sport, tradition, training, world, wrestlers, wrestling
