Hyderabad: Every country has had its national games played since ancient times. Hockey, wrestling, and Kabaddi were among our national games but cricket has become the favorite sport of everyone these days.
Wrestling was greatly patronized during the Nizams’ time. There was a culture of “pahalwani” (wrestling) in Nizam’s Hyderabad state. Akhadas (wrestling arenas) were commonly found in every Mohalla and locality of the city. Barkas and Golconda used to be the hubs for wrestling activities in the city until recently.
Other Indian games are not getting the kind of patronage cricket is getting from governments and local sports academies.
However, there were some Bollywood films made on the lives of former sports persons to evince interest in those sports.
Wrestling used to be one of the favorite events of desi sports competitions across the country. It used to be organized from the district to the national level.
At a time when the sport of wrestling is going out of prominence, there are festivals and events in rural Telangana where the wrestling competitions are being held annually.
Recently a wrestling competition was held at the compound of an old temple in Jay Palli of Kamareddy district which attracted huge crowds. The wrestlers participating in the competition displayed great wrestling skills to impress the audience.
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