Mysuru: The recent rains in city have damaged one of the oldest Garadi Mane (Traditional Wrestling House) located at Benki Nawab Road in Lashkar Mohalla.

The wall of 188-year-old Ustad Sreenivasannanavara Garadi Mane collapsed yesterday while the wrestlers were practicing.

Earlier representatives of the wrestling school had sought financial aid from people representatives for the renovation works as the wall had developed cracks. However, except for an inspection of the spot no other works were carried out.

The pailwans, who practice in the wrestling house, had got the tiles of the roof replaced along with some minor works to protect the wall. With the city receiving continuous rainfall from Sunday till Tuesday, the wall collapsed.

The ‘Garadi Mane’ was constructed by Ustad Sreenivasanna, who had defeated wrestlers from Punjab, Delhi and other States, during 1836. The then Maharaja of Mysore, Mummudi Krishnaraja Wadiyar, had also sanctioned funds for the construction of the wrestling house.

Renowned wrestlers like Pailwan Doddathammaiah, Channanna, Siddannachar, Chinnakrishnappa, Nagaraj among others are the products of Ustad Sreenivasannanavara Garadi Mane. Wrestlers, not only from Mysuru but also from Hubballi, Dharwad and Belagavi, have practiced in this Garadi.

Plea to save traditional wrestling houses

Meanwhile, despite long pending demand, the authorities have not made efforts conserve and preserve the traditional wrestling houses in the city which are an integral part of Mysuru’s culture.

The Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports (DYES), owing to pressure from senior wrestlers, had provided some equipment apart from providing funds for minor repair works to few wrestling houses a decade ago. Since then there has been no effort to conduct surveys of the traditional wrestling houses in the city to carryout restoration works.

Elected representatives must take initiatives to conserve and preserve ‘Garadi Mane’ for the future generations.