Hyderabad based Sreshth Foundation a non-governmental organization that promotes and works towards the welfare and upliftment of women and children has announced Shri Mukesh Goud Memorial national championships in ancient Indian sport, MALLA-YUDDHA.

The National championships will be held for the first time in India at Hyderabad, Telangana in the second week of February 2023 ( 9 - 12 February) at Victory Play Ground.

For the first time in Malla-Yuddha championships in India  a total of 57 prizes in 17 categories will be given to the Malla Yoddhas with a total prize money of over 31 lakhs. 

Malla-Yuddha is an ancient Indian martial art with a history of presumably 5000 years, making it one of the oldest forms of combat fighting in the world!

The first literary reference of Malla-Yuddha can be traced to the Ramayana; a wrestling match fought between King Bali of Kishkintha and King Ravana of Lanka. In the Mahabharata, Malla-Yuddha figures in the legend of Lord Krishna and Balarama in their youth days, fighting in wrestling matches. Another instance seen in Mahabharata is when Bhima wrestled with Jarasindha, shattering rocks in the arena. King Gautama was said to be a master of MallaYuddha, archery and sword fighting before he turned into our serene and peace-loving Buddha.

In India, Malla-Yuddha was practiced impartially between subjects and royalty. Mallayuddha was used to settle conflicts and even wars, fought by royal favourites on behalf of royals or sometimes even between kings themselves.

Announcing the championship details to the media persons Shri Vikram Goud, founder Sreshth Foundation and BJP Youth leader from Hyderabad said,  “  It was my father’s  (Late Shri Mukesh Goud) dream to see the sport flourish. He was also an avid wrestler .Avid proponent of the sport and encouraged many a great pehelwan of their times. We want to groom the next generation of wrestlers and hope to make Hyderabad a hub of Indian wrestling on the lines of Haryana. Malla-Yuddha is a Rich but overlooked legacy.  We at Sreshth Foundation would like to bring it back into the limelight. In the wake of so-called modern sports, our age-old traditions like kushti faces the threat of getting left behind. Although there are pockets of the city where it still remains popular and has its die-hard fans, the fact is that there aren’t any new akhadas and the old ones are also not thriving as earlier”

 “Within the framework of the Central Government Khelo India program, which has been introduced to revive the sports culture in India at the grass-root level by building a strong framework for all sports played in our country and establish India as a great sporting nation. there are many opportunities to revive the Kushti culture in India, and we are committed to building a strong ecosystem at the grass-root level. We plan to hold this event annually across Indian states and cities” Mr Vikram Goud added

The event also saw some of the delicate moves made in Malla-Yuddha by famed Malla Yoddhas 

About Sresth Foundation 

Sresth Foundation is a non-governmental organization that promotes and works towards the welfare and upliftment of women and children. We work towards breaking the cycle of poverty that diminishes these children’s life chances. Without a good education, their economic prospects will be as limited as those of their parents, sentencing them and their future children to a similar life of hardship.