Hanuman Akhara
| Guru Hanuman | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Vijay Pal 15 March 1901 Chirawa, Rajasthan |
| Died | 24 May 1999 (aged 98) Meerut, Uttar Pradesh |
Guru Hanuman (Devanagari: गुरु हनुमान) (1901–1999) was a legendary wrestling coach of India who coached many medal-winning wrestlers. He was awarded the prestigious Dronacharya Award in 1987, the highest recognition for a sports coach in India, and the Padma Shri in 1983.
Guru was born as Vijay Pal Yadav on 15 March 1901, in the Chirawa town of Rajasthan state. He did not attend school, but began wrestling at the local village akhada from an early age. He moved to Delhi in 1919 to set up a shop near Birla Mills in Subzi Mundi, but instead became a wrestler and soon gained popularity in the field.
The Indian industrialist K. K. Birla gave him land to set up Akhara in Malkaganj, Subzi Mandi (Old Delhi), thus 'Birla Mills Vyayamshala' was born around 1925 which is being managed by Birla Mills, Kamla Nagar, Delhi, which subsequently known as the Guru Hanuman Akhara.
Both as a wrestler and as a coach, Guru Hanuman was a legend as he created a template for modern Indian wrestling, by mixing traditional Indian wrestling style, pehlwani with international wrestling standards. In time he coached almost all of India's freestyle international wrestlers. Three of his disciples Sudesh Kumar, Prem Nath and Ved Prakash won gold medals at the Cardiff Commonwealth Games in 1972. Other notable disciples, Satpal and Kartar Singh won gold medals in Asian Games in 1982 and 1986 respectively. Eight of his disciples got the highest Indian sporting honour Arjuna award.
He was a bachelor and vegetarian. He died in a car crash on 24 May 1999, near Meerut, on his way to Haridwar.
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