Feeling Strength

“You feel your strength in the experience of pain.”
(Jim Morrison – American singer-songwriter and poet, 1943-1971)

Like many men in Varanasi (Benaras) this pehlwan (Indian wrestler) comes to an akhara every morning at dawn or before sunset in order to perform his daily physical training routine.
For this training they use heavy club-lifting like “gadas”which are a way of testing strength and balance.
The mace is associated to the Indian god of strength, Hanuman, who is almost never depicted without one.

This is a new picture from a series of 16 published in the new issue of Mascular Magazine (from page 136 to page 145 ),
www.mascular.co.uk/Magazine/Issue4.Winter2013/Mascular4
(When opening this magazine be aware that there are a few pictures with “explicit content” there)

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The use of any work without consent of the artist is PROHIBITED and will lead automatically to consequences.

Pandering Satan

“Reveal your feelings to him,
Tenderly …
Then let Satan break him”
(Abu Nuwas (Abū Nuwās al-Ḥasan ibn Hānī al-Ḥakamī) – Classical Arabic poet, 756-814)

This is a picture of Vinod and his cousin Manish shot in the akhara located at Scindia ghat along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
The two young men are pehlwani and they often train there before sunset.
Sometimes they also pose for the pictures of the Red Halo collections.

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A Physical State

“When an idea exclusively occupies the mind, it is transformed into an actual physical or mental state.”
(Swami Vivekananda – Indian Spiritual leader, 1863-1902)

This picture was shot inside the akhara facing the Ganges at Raj Ghat in Varanasi (Benaras) where this pehlwan follows a daily training at dawn.
The reflection in the mirror was providing a backlighting which I always enjoy to work with…

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Physical Wisdom

“Our own physical body possesses a wisdom which we who inhabit the body lack.
We give it orders which make no sense.”
(Henry Miller – American Author and Writer, 1891-1980)

An inward moment with a pehlwan who was following his daily training inside the akhara facing the Ganges at Raj Ghat in Varanasi (Benaras).

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Replenishing Strength

“Inward calm cannot be maintained unless physical strength is constantly and intelligently replenished.”
(Buddha – Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, 563-483 B.C.)

A few days ago I went to an akhara early in the morning, it was a little windy like it is during those pre-monsoon days and the light was peculiar.
Somehow it was perfect for taking pictures of pehlwani training…

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Inward Calm

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Please do not use any photographs without permission (even for private use).
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“Inward calm cannot be maintained unless physical strength is constantly and intelligently replenished.”
(Buddha – Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.)

This picture was shot at the little akhara (gymnasia) located nearby Scindia ghat along the Ganges in Vanarasi (Benaras).
Like many people in the Eternal city this pehlwan (wrestler) comes here every morning at dawn or before sunset in order to perform his daily physical training routine.
Since the Mughal Era it became a way of living deeply connected to culture of Northern India, this art of wrestling is a synthesis of native malla-yuddha and Persian Varzesh-e Pahlavani.
Through time Western training methods and nomenclature from Iran and Europe were introduced into Pehlwani.
Wrestling competitions, known as dangals, held in villages can have their own rules variations.

Bright Angel

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“Artistic temperament sometimes seems a battleground, a dark angel of destruction and a bright angel of creativity wrestling.”
(Madeleine L’Engle – American writer, 1918-2007)

This picture was shot at the little akhara (gymnasia) located nearby Scindia ghat along the Ganges in Vanarasi (Benaras).
Like many people in the Eternal city this pehlwan (wrestler) comes here every morning at dawn or before sunset in order to perform his daily physical training routine.
Since the Mughal Era it became a way of living deeply connected to culture of Northern India, this art of wrestling is a synthesis of native malla-yuddha and Persian Varzesh-e Pahlavani.
Through time Western training methods and nomenclature from Iran and Europe were introduced into Pehlwani.
Wrestling competitions, known as dangals, held in villages can have their own rules variations.

The Effort that Matters

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“The one thing that matters is the effort.
It continues, whereas the end to be attained is but an illusion of the climber, as he fares on and on from crest to crest; and once the goal is reached it has no meaning”.
(Antoine de Saint-Exupéry – The Wisdom of the Sands, translated from French by Stuart Gilbert)

This young man is a pehlwan (Indian wrestler) and he is using a pair of wood painted cylinders of 45 Kg weight each called “jodi” for his daily training.
I took this picture last Thursday in the begining of the afternoon under 48° at the little akhara which not far from Aurangzeb’s mosque in Kashi, the oldest part of Varanasi (Benaras).

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The Smallest Acts

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“Put your heart, mind, intellect and soul even to your smallest acts.
This is the secret of success”.
(Swami Sivananda)

This is a picture of Vinod who is a pehlwan (Indian wrestler), while Pritviraj (an other pehlwan) is giving him a facial massage during their training at the gym, the akhara which is at Scindia Ghat along river Ganga in Varanasi (Benaras).

The Intention to Understand Ourselves

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“To transform the world, we must begin with ourselves; and what is important in beginning with ourselves is the intention.
The intention must be to understand ourselves and not to leave it to others to transform themselves or to bring about a modified change through revolution, either of the left or of the right.
It is important to understand that this is

 our responsibility, yours and mine…”
(Jiddu Krishnamurti)

Those are wood painted cylinders called “jodi”, each is 45 Kg weight.
They are used in twisting rotations by pehlwan during their physical training.
I took this picture in a little akhara which not far from Aurangzeb’s mosque in Kashi, the oldest part of Varanasi (Benaras).

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