VELLORE: Sathish Kumar Sivalingam’s gold medal at Glasgow has brought the arc lights on Sathuvachari, which has been the cradle of weightlifters in Tamil Nadu, with two of its prominent gyms, Atlas and Gandhiji, having been the primary training ground for around 90 per cent of the state’s international lifters. But a secret that is not known to the outside world is that the two gyms are run on caste lines. As Vellore District Weightlifters Association president and Arjuna Awardee T Muthu said, “Our elders started the training centre for community youth. The two centres are following the rules and regulations, laid down about 40 years ago.”
A dispute between people of the two dominant castes, Hindu Mutharaiyar and Senguntha Mudaliar, in the erstwhile village of Sathuvachari, on the banks of Palar River, during a temple festival is said to have led to members of the two intermediate castes starting exclusive gyms.
Earlier, as P Murugesan, a former national level weightlifter said, there was just one gym where youth were trained in traditional martial arts like silambam and bodybuilding. After the rift, Mutharaiyars had the Atlas Weightlifting Training Centre and Senguntha Mudaliars, the Gandhiji Weightlifting Training Centre. Together they produced a dozen international weightlifters, which include Olympians and Arjuna awardees.