MYSURU: Once, roars of kusti bouts electrified Dasara crowds, but today the echoes inside Mysuru’s wrestling arenas are a mere whimper. The Mysuru Dasara kusti event that was once a cultural spectacle watched with reverence during the patronage of Mysore kings has now been reduced to a social media trend.
Many among today’s spectators and even participants admit that they turn up just to capture a reel or click a photo rather than to live the spirit of Nada Kusti. Organisers accept that after the fanfare of the inauguration by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and VIPs, attendance at Dasara wrestling bouts dropped drastically.
Mysuru, which boasted of 70 to 80 Garadi Manes -- traditional gymnasiums with red mud floors -- at its wrestling heyday, has now barely 25 to 30 left, many in skeletal form. Some famous gyms like the Pailwan Srinivasannanavara Garadi in Lashkar Mohalla remain propped up by wooden poles after a part of it collapsed last year.
In Mandi Mohalla and Mission Hospital Road, Garadi Manes have either caved in or remain in ruins, as there are no funds for their restoration.
‘If crowd comes, they make reels and leave’
Wrestlers in Nazarbad, Nanjumalige and KG Koppal have pooled in their own money to patch up these structures.
Vinay Mysore, a passionate wrestler who never misses Dasara Kusti, said that since Day 1, people are not showing up as expected. “Even if the crowd comes, they would just click a few photos or make reels and leave. A few contestants, who are amateurs or first-timers, too took part in the competition only to click photos or create reels, though they lost miserably in matches,” he said.
Pailwan S Mahadev, who has dedicated his life to kusti and is a former president of the Mysuru Garadimane Sangha, regrets the waning enthusiasm. He says Mysore’s kusti culture, heritage and status should be retained.
A pailwan, who has won the Dasara Kesari in the past, on condition of anonymity, said, “This is not just about Garadi Mane. It requires a lot of money for proper diet and preparation, while the prize money is nowhere sufficient. This pushes even those who are capable of competing to stay away from the contest,” he explained. Murudagalli Mahadevu, vice-president, Dasara Wrestling Subcommittee, insists that the final day still pulls crowds. But he agreed that the quality of the contest had gone down.