KOLLAM: Kerala GAMA Polachira Ramachandran died on Friday.
He was 77.
Ramachandran won the the title ‘Kerala Gama’ at the age of 25. The title is awarded to the champions of Gatta Gusthi, a form of wrestling.
Ramachandran, born as the son of K N Chellappan Pillai-Ponnamma couples at Polachira near Chathannoor in a landlord family, turned to wrestling at the behest of his father. Kalavur Kesavan Asan was his Guru. He shot into fame in his debut fight itself by defeating Ashik Hussain from Punjab. He won the Kerala Gama title by defeating Manacaud Dayanandan Fayalman.
The Gatta Gusthi form of wrestling had attracted huge crowds in early years and Kollam was its main centre.
There were three permanent Godas (wrestling rings) in Kollam those years. The gate collection for Ramachandran’s fight with Shamsudeen Shahudeen from Gwalior was an astonishing figure of Rs one lakh at that time. There were many incidents of gallery collapse because of heavy rush of the crowd.
He used to get Rs 5,000 as fee for a fight. His fights with Imambux Fayalwan from Punjab always turned a crowd-pulling affair. In their first fight, Imambux had defeated Ramachandran. But on the next occasion, Ramachandran defeated Imambux within one-and-a-half minutes. He had acted in a few films, including Masappadi Mathu Pillai.
In his last years, Ramachandran was living like a destitute. He was residing at Chirakkara Thazham near Chathannoor in a house he got from the government. He is survived by wife Leela.