Nathmal Pahalwan also known as Nathu Pahalwan, Nathmal Pareek and Nathmal Kathotia (1911–2006) was a professional wrestler and a community activist from Calcutta, India. He was the founder of Ganga Seva Samiti Ghat and the wrestling arena in Calcutta, India. He was popularly known as Guruji (Master Teacher) and Pahalwanji (Wrestler in Hindi) by his close friends and disciples.
Guruji's dedication and persistent efforts inspired his close friends and disciples to support the holy mission of building a safe ghat for people to worship in the river Ganges and offer prayers at the nearby temples. In English- and/or Hindi-speaking areas 'ghats' refers to the areas, in the holy river-side cities like Haridwar, Varanasi, Calcutta - where there is a stairway to access the Ganges River. People take a holy dip and shower in the river.
History
During the early to mid-1900s, in India, wrestling took place in clay or dirt pit. The soil is mixed with milk and ghee (pasteurized butter) and is then softened before each practice. Many other things like camphor are added to make sure that the wrestlers do not get any infections. Traditional Indian wrestling is not just a sport - it is an ancient subculture where wrestlers live and train together and follow strict rules on everything from what they can eat to what they can do in their spare time. Drinking and smoking are off limits. The focus is on living a pure life, building strength and honing their wrestling skills.
Championships and accomplishments
Guruji was from the small village Bambu near the village Sandwa in Churu district of Rajasthan, India. Due to his good physique and height of 6 feet and 3 inches, he was encouraged to study Pehlwani, an Indian style of wrestling, in the milked sand wrestling pits of India called akhara. He was a favorite in most wrestling tournaments in India due to his big frame and amazing upper body strength. He wrestled on invitation of kings of various Indian princely states. He successfully competed against some of the greatest names in wrestling history and professional wrestlers from the United States.
During the primer of his professional career, Guruji won many wrestling contests in greater India, traveled to Kathmandu, Nepal and Rangoon, Burma to wrestle against his contemporary renowned European wrestlers. He was one of the top wrestlers in Shri Ganga Singhji's (then king of Bikaner) kingdom in Bikaner, Rajasthan, India and was conferred with numerous awards. During his stay in Bikaner, he founded and trained at "Maruthi Vyayamshala", a local gymnasium. He led the Indian wrestling team to Burma and was victorious in the championship. The city of Bikaner celebrated after he returned from Burma. He was billed as one of the greatest Pehlwani wrestlers in the history of Greco-Roman wrestling. He had some legendary battles with Stanislaus Zbyszko and Gama Pahalwan. After his battles he was awarded the prestigious title of Hind Kesari.
Guruji was also conferred upon the title of The Lion of Rajputana in Agra (1936 A.D) by Lady Lin-lithgow (wife of then Viceroy of India - Lord Lin-lithgow) on winning a double wrestling contest (two wrestling bouts in a day). Guruji was also instrumental in training young wrestlers and having cordial relations with a number of "akhadas" (wrestling arenas) including, Bikaner, Calcutta, and several cities of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. Guruji was instrumental in training Dara Singh, when he trained with him for a brief time in Kolkota. He had cordial relations with Guru Hanuman and Dara Singh.
He held his wrestling and spiritual gurus (teachers) in great esteem and was always grateful to them for their advice. His wrestling prowess has been discussed in many Indian national dailies like "The Telegraph" and "The Statemaan", published from Calcutta, "Rajasthan Patrika", published from Jaipur.
Diet and Workouts
Guruji was not only a renowned wrestler of his time, winning a number of prestigious titles but was a great philanthropist too. He firmly believed Shareer madhyam khalu dharma sadhanam, meaning - It is through a healthy body alone that one will be able to serve God and Society. His daily morning routine included: Waking up by 4 am, going to the shore of the Ganges, exercise by doing thousand repetitions (reps) of squats (baithak) and push-ups (dand). After that he would do wrestling with other wrestlers & train the new wrestlers and swim for over an hour.
His daily training consisted of grappling with over ten of his fellow wrestlers in the akhada. He did a minimum of one thousand baithaks (Indian word for squats) and one thousand dands (Indian word for pushups) every day. His purely vegetarian diet included: