Vajramushti Kalaga, traditional bout among wrestlers
2 min read
Mysuru: Vajramushti Kalaga the bouts between the jettys (a community of wrestlers) is one of the important tradition that is still in practice by Wadiyars the erstwhile royal family of Mysuru.
It is only after the bouts, the scion of royal family, now Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar takes out his Vijaya Yatre aka victory procession within the palace to offer puja to Banni tree near Bhuvaneshwari temple.
This year Mysuru Ustad Tiger Balaji Jetty’s son Vishnu Jetty and Bengaluru Ustad Krishna Jetty’s disciple Taranath Jetty slug it out. It ended in a draw with neither of them able to reign against each other.
Another fight was between Chamarajanagar Ustad Bangara Jetty’s disciple Achyutha Jetty and Channapatna’s Ustad Purushottam Jetty’s disciple Manohar Jetty.
Manohar succeeded in hitting the forehead of the opponent with the weapon causing the flow of blood that marked the culmination of the fight.
As is the age old tradition, the two pairs of wrestlers fought till the drop of blood from their forehead, in the fight that started around 10-15 AM at the exclusive wrestling arena at Karikal Thotti.
Yaduveer and his son Adyaveer watched the wrestling from Kalyana Mantapa.
Mysore Royal family or Yadu dynasty has been celebrating Dasara since 1610, after inheriting the tradition from Vijayanagar rulers who were celebrating Mahanavami festival and taking out a procession.
Till then Wadiyars were the feudals under Vijayanagar rulers and Raja Wadiyar holds the credit of starting Dasara.
The Vajramushti Kalaga is considered as a prelude to Wadiyars Vijaya Yatre.
Each will fight till the drop of blood from the forehead of the opponents by hitting them using “Vajranakha” a sharp edged weapon with seven teeths tightly held in the right fist.
However the Vajramushti Kalaga also had been stopped for two years due to the restrictions related to Covid-19 pandemic.
– Team Mysoorunews
Mysooru News
