Maharashtra Kesari ( in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

) is an Indian-style wrestling championship, established in 1854 in Maharashtra, India. It is organized by the ''Maharashtra Kustigir Parishad''.

Prize

Cash prize was awarded to the winner since the start. But since 1982, initiated by wrestler Mamasaheb Mohol, the winner was permanently awarded with a silver mace weighing . the winner received a silver mace and a cash prize of . In addition, Government of Maharashtra also provided honorary sum amount to the title holders above age 50. Until 2012, to be eligible for this amount, the title holder's annual income had to be less than. In 2015, the cash prize was raised to . The winners are also eligible to apply for government jobs under sports quota.

Records

Sardar Bhomji Panchariya won the first Championship in 1854. Narsing Yadav holds the record of winning the title three times consecutively from 2011 to 2013 and in 2016 Vijay chaudhary tied the record of Narsing Yadav. Vijay also won three times consecutively from 2014 to 2016, whereas Ganpat Khedkar, Chamba Mutnaal, Laxman Wadar, Dadu Chougule and Chandrahar Patil have won the title twice. After winning his second title in 2008, Chandrahar Patil also competed in the 2009 championship whereas previous double title holders had not competed the third time. Yuvaraj Patil hold the record of being the youngest winner at the age of 17.

Maharashtra Kesari 1961- present

Maharashtra State Kustigir Parishad, established by Wrestling Maharshi Mamasaheb Mohol, has been organizing the highest level 'Maharashtra Kesari' wrestling competition in the state for the last six-seven decades. The aim of this competition is to make wrestling evolve, to make good wrestlers out of the region and help them shine at the country and world level. Maharashtra Kesari is being held in the clay and matt divisions. In this, the winner wrestler from the clay division open category and the winner wrestler from the mattress division open category will fight the final on Matt as per international standards, and the winner of this final fight is declared as 'Maharashtra Kesari' and the honorary mace of Maharashtra Kesari is awarded.

Winners

;Key Other Title holders from Maharashtra

Hind Kesari Hind Kesari is an Indian-style wrestling championship, established in 1958. It is affiliated to the Indian Style Wrestling Association of India (ISWAI). Hindi Kesari Title is a biggest Kushti Wrestling Title in India . In 2011, women were a ...

Rustam-e-Hind Ghulam Mohammad Baksh Butt (22 May 1878 – 23 May 1960), commonly known as ''Rustam-e-Hind'' (Hindi-Urdu for ''Rostam of Hindostan'') and by the ring name The Great Gama, was a pehlwani wrestler and strongman in British India. In the earl ...

Olympics

Khashaba Jadhav Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav (15 January 1926 – 14 August 1984) was an Indian athlete. He is best known as a wrestler who won a bronze medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He was the first athlete from independent India to win an indiv ...

- Bronze 🥉

Bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from bantam chickens. B ...

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

National Awards Arjuna Award Dhyanchand Award

Notes

Hiraman Bankar is father of Vijay Bankar. Dadu Chaugule is father of vinod Chaughule.

References

External links

* {{Wrestling in India Wrestling competitions in India Sport in Maharashtra Recurring sporting events established in 1961