Difficulty: Challenger (Level 2)
A crowd cheers in India as muscular men slap sacred, scented soil on their bulging thighs and arms in a mud wrestling match.
The fight ends when one wrestler pins his opponent’s back into the mud. It does not matter how long it takes.
While conventional wrestling matches are played on mats with regulated draws, India’s mud wrestling is more raw.
However, it has been the training ground for Olympic success. This style of wrestling is known as kushti or dangal. It has centuries-old roots but emerged during the 16th century in India when the region was under Mughal rule.
There are no blows or kicking – just throws to the ground.
Although male and female Indian wrestlers have won medals at the Olympics and Commonwealth Games in the more regulated form of the sport, it is the mud – not mat – version that is popular in so many rural areas. It is not just a spectacle but a tradition.
