Mysuru: Vajramushti Kalaga, the bloody sport where two pairs of wrestlers from Jatti community will fight with ivory crafted sharp objects in their fists will be held at Mysuru Palace premise on October 19. Among four pailwans, two are making their debut.
The Vajramushti Kalaga is a sport played in Mysuru only during Dasara and that too within the confines of Mysuru Palace. The Jumbo Savari procession commences immediately after this ritual. The pailwans are paired according to their height, weight and fitness. The fight gets over in minutes once either of the wrestlers bleeds. The one who bleeds loses the fight. They get into the akhadas (arenas) after neatly shaving their head and wearing Hanuman shorts. The sport is played only by the Jatti community who were escorting the prince.
The respective district usthads pick the pailwans each from Mysuru, Bengaluru, Chamarajanagar and Channapatana where the Jatti community is found in large numbers to participate in the Vajramushti Kalaga which will be held on the Vijayadashami Day. The Jatti community originally hailed from Delmal in Gujarat but migrated to Mysuru. Vajramushti Kalaga that used to take place for days together will be held at Karilallu Thotti of the palace. The fight gets over minutes within it starts once either of the wrestlers bleeds. The one who bleeds loses the fight.
On October 19, Mysuru wrestler Manjunatha Jatti who will be taking part for the second time will take on Vidyadhara Jatti from Channapatna while wrestler V Raghavendra Jatti from Bengaluru who is debuting, will take on Purushotham from Chamarajanagar. Though the pailwans participating in Vajramushti Kalga from Bengaluru, Channapatna and Chamarajanagar were finalised within few minutes of their arrival to Mysuru. Deciding on the participant from Mysuru took time as there were nearly four aspirants but after a lot of discussions, the usthads and senior wrestlers went ahead with Manjunatha who works as casual labour in BEML, Mysuru.
Speaking to Newskarnataka, Manjunath said, “I have been practising for the event for the past nearly a month. In the first appearance in 2009, I took three to four minutes to defeat the pailwan from Channapatna. The ustads are having confidence on me and I will go all out in my efforts to do my best.”
‘Younger generation giving more importance to Vajramushti’
Senior wrestler Tiger Balaji Jetti from Mysuru who has also taken part in the Vajramushti Kalaga said, “The youngsters are showing keen interest towards the sport. They are voluntarily taking up the sport and are very eager to take part in the competition which according to our community, it’s a pride.” Both his sons Vishnu and Balaram are also promising wrestlers and very eager to take part in the Vajramushti Kalaga.
The wrestlers and Jatti community members also mention that for them, just being a part of the competition itself is of great pride and they are not much bothered about any assistance from the government. For them, blessings of the Maharaja’s family and Goddess Chamundeshwari is much more important than anything else.
More than 1 lakh Jatti community people across the state
Across the state, including nearly 1000 people from Mysuru, there are more than 1 lakh people belonging to Jatti community. Most of them are found in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Channapatna and Chamarajanagar.
