INDIAN JORI AND GADA OF VARANASI
We know that the Sport is very important for our life but if it combines or mentions about a tradition culture then it becomes more important for that particular group of person or the country.
Here, in India , there are a lot of traditional games e.g. kabaddi , kushti, archery, rowing , jori swinging and gada swinging, naal lifting etc, but I (Gyanshankul well known as Pratyay) always try to write and know about Indian jori and gada,
These are not an exercise tool but also a spritual and valuable thing for Indian. The pahalwaan does the worship of these tool before swinging it.
According to myth " The mace or gada carried on the right hand of Hanuman is a symbol of self -independence, ability of governance and the power to rule. The mace or gada carried ont he right hand of Hanuman is a symbol of self-independence, ability of governance and the power to rule. When Hanuman gada is held in the right hand upraised position,it means that there is disorder and a guiding power is required to bring the situation to regularity.
Lord Kubera presented the powerful Gada to Hanuman. Power and authority of this gada is menitioned throughout The Ramayana. Bheem, Ravana,Shani Dev...no one could defeat it. Even it is said that once Hanuman's gada saved Surath, the king of kashi, from the arrows of Shree Rama! The name Gada has a lot of history that comes along it. Gada was the name of a mighty asura (devil) who once brought much terror upon humanity but he could also be quite charitable. Gada never refused a request that was asked of him no matter how ridiculous the request might have been. Lord Vishnu disguised himself as a Brahmin and approached Gada. He requested Gada to lend his own bones to him. Gada ripped himself apart at the seams to deliver his bones to Vishnu. Vishnu then took these bones and created one of the grandest maces of all time. As it was created from the bones of Gada, the word Gada in hindu mythology came to permanently mean mace in Sanskrit.
one and best thing/perception about akharas that the lady is not allowed inside the akhara for swinging the jori and gada...sometimes it becomes a question for me, because if it denotes a sport then it should be allow to do swinging the jori or gada to girl (according to me the light weight gada or jori would be swing by them). I saw a pic of a stone in which it was refering that a lady keeps the gada in her right hand, when I try out to know about to that pic I was astonished to know that it was the pic of a goddess. She holds a chamara and looks in adoration toward her master, whose hand rests on her head. She wears a crown or has an elaborate hairstyle. Apart from a lower garment, she might wear a blouse or have a bare torso. She is depicted emerging from the gada!! the goddess is kaumodaki . kaumodaki is also known as gada-devi.
(pic courtesy -paul taras wolkovinski)
every year on the occassion of naag panchami akharas organise the competition of jori and gada swinging in the akharas, in that competition pahalwaan comes from another akharas and compete to each other. the winner gets the safaa( the whiten cloth as turben which shows as a winner crown) and some times baalti (steel bucket) and cash and many more. there are four categories of the jori swinging competition in varanasi:
number 4- 20-22 kg each jori
number 3- 25-27 kg each jori
number 2- 29-32 kh each jori
number 1- 35 kg and upwards in each jori
the joris are in just 3 types . first narrow second fat and third nail jori. in narrow indian jori you can see the heavy iron ring at the bottom which makes it more heavier and loadable which becomes harder to swing. second in fat jori you can find one or two iron rings or without the iron ring at the bottom, it is more harder because it could not be keep on shoulder or the support of chest because it makes load on wrist. the last one , the nail jori is very dangerous to swing because it keeps the nail on all the part of the jori in each . it swings without the touch of the shoulders.
the boys of the age of 16 to 22 they use the number 4 jori. although in these competition there are not rule of age and bodyweight but the new comer pahalwaan does fantastic swing because they becomes hero between the crowd of pahalwaan . they works in akhara in the running speed of Usain bolt.
really we all love to see to a youngster pahalwaan who swing the jori or gada in akhara. joris and gadas are heavy clubs which wrestlers swing in order to strengthen their shoulders and arms.
At raghunath maharaj akhara, akhara morchali bir, augharnath takiya, kali bari akhara, hanuman ji vyayamshala and in other akharas jori swinging is both a competitive sport and form of exercise. jori are always swung in pairs. Those used for exercise usually weigh between fifteen and twenty-five Kilograms each. They are curved of heavy wood and are weighted with bands of metal.In order to make the joris more difficult to swing, blades and nails are something hammered into them.
At the end of this article I want to mention about the some name of akahras of varanasi who really valuable for all .
these all above mentioned akharas appreciate to spread and support to jori and gada swinging.
I am very sorry to inform you that there were more than hundred akharas in varanasi but now these rest are alive and trying to improve to ownself.
I am very thankful to all the master (gurus) of these akharas who comes here to train to everybody without any monthly-charge or ego.
friends !! if you really like to my article or you want to criticise to my article please leave a comment.
We know that the Sport is very important for our life but if it combines or mentions about a tradition culture then it becomes more important for that particular group of person or the country.
Here, in India , there are a lot of traditional games e.g. kabaddi , kushti, archery, rowing , jori swinging and gada swinging, naal lifting etc, but I (Gyanshankul well known as Pratyay) always try to write and know about Indian jori and gada,
These are not an exercise tool but also a spritual and valuable thing for Indian. The pahalwaan does the worship of these tool before swinging it.
According to myth " The mace or gada carried on the right hand of Hanuman is a symbol of self -independence, ability of governance and the power to rule. The mace or gada carried ont he right hand of Hanuman is a symbol of self-independence, ability of governance and the power to rule. When Hanuman gada is held in the right hand upraised position,it means that there is disorder and a guiding power is required to bring the situation to regularity.
Lord Kubera presented the powerful Gada to Hanuman. Power and authority of this gada is menitioned throughout The Ramayana. Bheem, Ravana,Shani Dev...no one could defeat it. Even it is said that once Hanuman's gada saved Surath, the king of kashi, from the arrows of Shree Rama! The name Gada has a lot of history that comes along it. Gada was the name of a mighty asura (devil) who once brought much terror upon humanity but he could also be quite charitable. Gada never refused a request that was asked of him no matter how ridiculous the request might have been. Lord Vishnu disguised himself as a Brahmin and approached Gada. He requested Gada to lend his own bones to him. Gada ripped himself apart at the seams to deliver his bones to Vishnu. Vishnu then took these bones and created one of the grandest maces of all time. As it was created from the bones of Gada, the word Gada in hindu mythology came to permanently mean mace in Sanskrit.
one and best thing/perception about akharas that the lady is not allowed inside the akhara for swinging the jori and gada...sometimes it becomes a question for me, because if it denotes a sport then it should be allow to do swinging the jori or gada to girl (according to me the light weight gada or jori would be swing by them). I saw a pic of a stone in which it was refering that a lady keeps the gada in her right hand, when I try out to know about to that pic I was astonished to know that it was the pic of a goddess. She holds a chamara and looks in adoration toward her master, whose hand rests on her head. She wears a crown or has an elaborate hairstyle. Apart from a lower garment, she might wear a blouse or have a bare torso. She is depicted emerging from the gada!! the goddess is kaumodaki . kaumodaki is also known as gada-devi.
every year on the occassion of naag panchami akharas organise the competition of jori and gada swinging in the akharas, in that competition pahalwaan comes from another akharas and compete to each other. the winner gets the safaa( the whiten cloth as turben which shows as a winner crown) and some times baalti (steel bucket) and cash and many more. there are four categories of the jori swinging competition in varanasi:
number 4- 20-22 kg each jori
number 3- 25-27 kg each jori
number 2- 29-32 kh each jori
number 1- 35 kg and upwards in each jori
the joris are in just 3 types . first narrow second fat and third nail jori. in narrow indian jori you can see the heavy iron ring at the bottom which makes it more heavier and loadable which becomes harder to swing. second in fat jori you can find one or two iron rings or without the iron ring at the bottom, it is more harder because it could not be keep on shoulder or the support of chest because it makes load on wrist. the last one , the nail jori is very dangerous to swing because it keeps the nail on all the part of the jori in each . it swings without the touch of the shoulders.
the boys of the age of 16 to 22 they use the number 4 jori. although in these competition there are not rule of age and bodyweight but the new comer pahalwaan does fantastic swing because they becomes hero between the crowd of pahalwaan . they works in akhara in the running speed of Usain bolt.
really we all love to see to a youngster pahalwaan who swing the jori or gada in akhara. joris and gadas are heavy clubs which wrestlers swing in order to strengthen their shoulders and arms.
At raghunath maharaj akhara, akhara morchali bir, augharnath takiya, kali bari akhara, hanuman ji vyayamshala and in other akharas jori swinging is both a competitive sport and form of exercise. jori are always swung in pairs. Those used for exercise usually weigh between fifteen and twenty-five Kilograms each. They are curved of heavy wood and are weighted with bands of metal.In order to make the joris more difficult to swing, blades and nails are something hammered into them.
At the end of this article I want to mention about the some name of akahras of varanasi who really valuable for all .
- Akhara kaali bari
- Akhara morchali beer
- Akhara raghunath maharaj
- Akhara aughar nath takiya
- Maha mrityunjay vyaayaamshalaa
- Sher akhara (satsang akhara)
- Laal kuti vyaayaamshaala
- Sri sri hanuman ji vyaayaamshalaa
- Karnghantaa vyaayaamshaala
- badi gaibi akhara
- chhoti gaibi akhara ( the akhara who organise the first competition each year for the jori -gada)
- Aazaad vyaayaamshalaa
- Sindhiya ghat vyaayaamshala
- Akhara nirahu sardaar
- Kashi vyaayaamshalaa
- idul khalifa
- Narmdeshwar vyaayaamshalaa
- Babua pandey vyaayaamshalaa
- Agyavaanbeer vyaayaamshalaa
- Akhara bada ganesh
- Akhara santraam
these all above mentioned akharas appreciate to spread and support to jori and gada swinging.
I am very sorry to inform you that there were more than hundred akharas in varanasi but now these rest are alive and trying to improve to ownself.
I am very thankful to all the master (gurus) of these akharas who comes here to train to everybody without any monthly-charge or ego.
friends !! if you really like to my article or you want to criticise to my article please leave a comment.
Author: Gyanshankul Singh
Location: Varanasi, India
Email: gyanshankul@gmail.com
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