Gama Pehalwan, the undefeated wrestling champion, is honoured with a Google Doodle
Today’s Google Doodle honours the birth anniversary of Gama Pehalwan, one of India’s most famous wrestlers before independence. In addition to his ring name The Great Gama, he was also known as Rustam-e-Hind, an undefeated wrestling world champion. According to Google, Bruce Lee is a known admirer of Gama’s conditioning and incorporates aspects of it into his own training routine.
Gama was born in 1878 in Amritsar as Ghulam Mohammad Baksh Butt to a wrestling family. In 1910, he won the World Heavyweight Championship.
At the age of ten, he did 500 lunges (bethaks) and 500 push-ups, according to Google. Gama became famous at a young age after winning a lunge contest in which over 400 wrestlers from across the subcontinent competed.
In 1902, Gama accomplished one of his most significant feats when he lifted a 1,200-kg stone. According to reports, the stone is now kept at the Baroda Museum.
Raheem Bakhsh Sultaniwala, the then-World Champion, who stood nearly seven feet in front of a 5 feet 8 inch Gama, was one of his most formidable opponents. The first three meetings between the two ended in a draw, with Gama winning the fourth.
During his visit to India, the Prince of Wales presented Gama with a silver mace to honour his bravery.
Gama died in 1960 in Lahore, where he spent his final days.
According to Google, today’s doodle honours Gama Pehalwan’s achievements in the ring as well as the impact and representation he brought to Indian culture. Vrinda Zaveri is the artist who created it.
Picture Courtesy: Google/Images are subject to copyright
