Moti Bagh Taleem - Wrestlers living the dream

Kolhapur is not just famous for the leather sandals and the extravagant thali. It hosts some of the oldest taleems in the country. This is one of the few  places where our country's best  wrestlers are trained . They come and join the taleem at a very young age. " They have very specific diet and they practice twice a day" says the head coach who was one of the trainers  for our gorilla troupes in the Indian army.  Taleem is an establishment where wrestlers have been trained traditionally for centuries. All the training used to happen on the mud which is considered  sacred. Outsiders are not allowed to step in  to the training mud. Wresters and trainers step in to it , only bare foot !  

Like any martial art , wrestling has evolved. In order to practice for the highest level of competitions , wrestlers now train on mats. " But , we haven't stopped training on the mud".  It's the purest form of wresting. Our wrestlers spare themselves on the mud twice a week . " Says the coach. 

Wrestlers range from kids to middle aged pehlwans . They all train together. Their diet is dominated by badam and other nuts and dry fruits along with desi milk, a lot of them. Karla - a traditional exercise equipment made from a specific wood with handles designed to weigh in various units are one of things which the wrestlers train on. Dands and baithaks( traditional pushups and squats) are some of the important workouts for khushi. This is a series of photos of wrestlers practicing khusthi in the motibagh taleem of kolhapur , Maharashtra.