Pole to poetry: Mallakhamba, gatka steal the show at Pythian Games in Bengaluru | Bengaluru News

Bengaluru: Until three years ago, the game of mallakhamba using a pole wasn’t allowed for girls. On Friday, at the sports pavilion of Bengaluru City University, this idea was a thing of the past, as at least 10 girls leapt up the pole, displaying a show of strength, balance and grace at the second edition of Pythian Games.Teenagers wrestled with the pole, hanging upside down, spinning rapidly, striking yoga poses and doing splits mid-air. The crowd gasped as the gymnasts — both boys and girls — suddenly dropped halfway down the pole, pausing upside down before transitioning smoothly into their next pose. If that indigenous sport was not thrilling enough, at the basketball arena, a group of teenagers was getting ready for gatka, a traditional stick-based martial art. Traditional sports were the highlight on day one of the games, with mallakhamba and gatka stealing the show. There was also rope skipping, mehendi design and poetry, a combination of arts and culture along with sports events. Bijender Goel, founder and managing trustee of Modern Pythian Games, said the aim is to revitalise one of the four pan-Hellenic festivals that originated in Greece along with Olympics. “Despite our population, we have only 4-5 Olympic medals each year. There is a problem with the system… So, here we have changed the method of selecting candidates for participation. Our virtual platforms reach out to everybody, through which any individual can register. Federations also do so. So, we have a mix of both,” he explained.There are around 800 individual registrations and 1,300 from federations, he said. Participants compete in various events, including arm wrestling, rope skipping, taekwondo, silambam, karate and kalaripayattu, over the next two days. For students, it is an opportunity to show their skills. In mallakhamba, around 50 candidates participated, some for the first time. “For most of us, it began as fun — mounting poles, twitching with ropes. But soon it turned serious as we began excelling and started participating in competitions,” said Rakhi Diwakar, a degree student and coach. The competition will conclude in the city Sunday.