LAKSHMESHWAR: A group of children aged between 5 and 15 years are eagerly waiting for instructions from their coach. As the coach communicates through sign language, they all take turns to climb a vertical wooden pole or rope and demonstrate amazing acrobatic stunts.
And their confidence and performance on the rope and pole leave audience in total awe. For these speech-and-hearing-impaired kids of Lakshmeshwar, performing Mallakhamba, an ancient sport, is a child’s play.
“However, it was not so easy to teach them the tricks of the trade. These kids could not hear, and it was difficult for them to follow the instructions. Hence, we had to develop a unique sign language to train them in the indigenous sport,” says coach Girish Jiddimani.
Mallakhamba is a traditional sport in which a gymnast performs aerial yoga postures and wrestling grips in concert with a vertical stationary wooden pole, cane or hanging rope. It is done solo or in a group. The sport involves intricate feats of contortion, strength and death-defying gymnastics atop a pole or hanging from it.
And the credit for keeping the ancient sport alive in Lakshmeshwar goes to BD Tatti Memorial Charitable Trust. At a school run by the Trust, over 50 sportspersons have got free training in the last six years. Students undergoing training are also provided food and accommodation here. Those interested in sports are screened at an early age of 5 to 10. They are then taught different Mallakhambha techniques.
Chief trainer Girish Jiddimani daily teaches them how to perform different Mallakhamba asanas. These schoolkids can now easily perform Veerbhadrasana, Shankasana, Shavasana, Nidrasana and other complex asanas. In the past four years, the students have participated in several Mallakhambha competitions held across the state.
Mallakhambha training at school was the brainchild of N S Patil, a pioneer of the indigenous sport. He wanted to ensure that the popularity of Mallakhambha does not wane in Lakshmeshwar a few decades down the line, and discussed the matter with one of his students M I Kanaki and honorary secretary of the Trust Somanath Mahajan Shettar.
Both agreed for providing free coaching on the school premises to carry forward the legacy of the aerial sport to younger generation.
Lakshmeshwar: The sport’s cradle
Mallakhamba gained immense popularity in Lakshmeshwar when Physical Education teacher N S Patil started training students in the ancient sport. Subsequently, a team was formed in Karnatak University, Dharwad. Later, he also started a Karnataka Mallakhamba Association. Over a period of time, Lakshmeshwar became the cradle of this aerial sport in Karnataka.
Types of Mallakhamba
Mallakhamba can be categorised into two types; Pole Mallakhamba and Rope Mallakhamba. In the first category, a vertical pole made of teakwood is fixed on the ground. The pole is generally 11-ft tall with a circumference of 50cm. In Rope Mallakhamba, a strong cotton rope of 25 feet is hung, and the gymnast has to perform action without tying the rope to his/her body.