Dangal at Village Fatehpur Chandela

Deepak Ansuia Prasad visits the village of Fatehpur Chandela in Haryana for a great dangal where wrestlers from at least eight akharas came to compete and Yogeshwar Dutt was one of the guests of honor.

The spirited people of Fatehpur Chandela and the village committee recently organized a grand wrestling competition that was well-planned and organized. Dedicated committee members, organizers, skilled referees, quick and fast volunteers all made the dangal a beautiful event to remember, not to mention the hoards of people that came and witnessed the event. I have a deep gratitude for such men who work to promote the culture of sports, Indian wrestling to be specific. But why do they do so? Why do they arrange such a big cash prizes for the wrestlers? Why do the gurus spend so much on traveling and why do I eat the dirt and dust from the earthen pit where wrestlers compete - forgetting food and water for all day long? This is the spirit, to serve, to respect the culture and tradition and good moral values of what India is known for.







The gurus participate not for money, but for respect. The wrestler fights for his guru and for a small prize, which does not matter, as no wrestler would fight a single match unless his guru permits. The crowed wants to witness the events and support their favorite wrestlers.

The dangal at Chandela was organized by the village committee comprising mainly Bhola former councilor, Bhola, Jeetu, Mukesh Hasija, Vikki Pahlwan and Pandit Pradeep.

The chief guests were World Champion wrestler Sushil Kumar, and CWG gold medalist Pandit Yogeshwar Dutt, and the village head and prominent people of the area.

The referees were Ajit Pahlwan, and Ashok Pahlwan.

There were many volunteers who worked hard to stage the event.

There were also police from Haryana, and the SHO of the area himself oversaw security for the dangal. Thanks to him the event was successful and he was honoured by the village.

Sushil Kumar could not come due to his busy schedule, however Yogeshwar Dutt honored his presence and was honored with head gear, garlands and 31000/- cash.

The participating akharas were:

• Guru Hanuman akhara
• Guru Jasram akhara
• Guru Chandagi ram akhara
• Guru Sanjay akhara
• Guru Shyamlal akhara
• Guru Amichand akhara
• Guru leela ram akhara
• Samandar akhara
• Bametha akhara
• Fatehpur and Ali akhara
• Wrestlers from as far as Jaipur and Punjab also came to compete. And many more from distant places.

There was also a disabled wrestler from Jaipur who defeated an old veteran wrestler and won praise from the spectators.

There was a young girl wrestler who wanted to fight anybody in her category and had a match with a young boy and defeated him. Another girl from Chatrsal stadium had a bout with a girl wrestler of Guru Chandagi ram Akhara. Girls rarely competes in the events in the past, but that is changing rapidly with more and more girls taking to the sport.

There were a number of matches for young wrestlers and many bouts of 500/-, 1000/- 2000/- 2500/-, 3100/-, 5100, 7100/-and 11000.

There were two bouts of 11000/-, 21000/- and one each for 21000/-, 31000/- and 51000/-.
So the crowed could watch full packed action with as many matches as possible.

Referee Ajit, and Ashok Pahlwan - both great veteran wrestlers of their time - did their job beautifully

Jeetu Pahlwan’s match has to be stopped as the guru of his opponent disputed the decision of the referees so the bout was cancelled.

The kala nag or the king kobra had a match with a good wrestler from Guru Capt Chandroop akhara which ended in a draw.

There were great big wrestlers participating above 10000/- but neither of them could pull off an outright victory, so the matches ended in draws.

Wrestler Vikram came to compete, but could not be suitably matched so he remained unchallenged.

The event started in the morning at 11 am and ended at 7 pm. The last match for 51000/- prize had to be cancelled because it was too dark for the crowed to watch and the wrestlers to compete.

Referee Ajit Pahlwan thanked all the participants, crowed and dignitaries and the organizing committee to organize such a beautiful event.

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