Gujranwala Akhada founded by Maharaja Ranjit Singh

It is a cold morning in February, the fog is gathering, but the youngsters are starting to dance in the fields of Shiranwala Bagh in Gujranwala.

This is the routine of these young wrestlers even in harsh winters. Reaching the arena early in the morning, preparing the arena ground with shovels and rollers and then practicing wrestling.

The arenas of Shiranwala Bagh have produced many prominent wrestlers for Pakistan.

Regarding the history of Shiranwala Bagh, trainer of ‘Jinnah Health Club’, an arena here, Muhammad Umar Pahlwan told Independent Urdu that ‘this garden used to be owned by Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the past.’

He said that ‘Maharaja Ranjit Singh used to come here and conduct his court proceedings. Apart from this, he also used to go for a walk. There was also an arena inside this garden where they used to train the wrestlers. This akhara has been running since that time and now there are about five akharas inside this garden.’

Maharaja Ranjit Singh was born in 1780 in Gujranwala. He was the Raja of the Sikh Empire, who ruled from 1801 to 1839.

Umar Pehlwan says: ‘That era was such that every house loved a wrestler. In the Indian subcontinent, wrestlers were employed by Rajas, Maharajas. They used to prepare their own wrestlers so that they could field their wrestlers for the biggest competition of that time, ‘Rostam Hind’.

Umar also mentioned that during this period Maharaja of Patiala, Maharaja of Kolhapur, Maharaja of Kashmir, Nawab of Bahawalpur and numerous other states produced their wrestlers.

Even today, Gujranwala still has a tradition of love for the art of wrestling and young players prepare themselves in these arenas for international level games including Pakistan.

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