Chandgi Ram (9 November 1937 – 29 June 2010), often referred to as Master Chandgi Ram, was a freestyle wrestler from

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. He won gold medal in the

1970 Asian Games The 6th Asian Games () were held from 9 to 20 December 1970 in Bangkok, Thailand.- - Seoul, South Korea, had been selected to host the 6th Games but it declined due to both financial reasons and security threats from neighboring North Korea. (T ...

and represented India in the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972 ...

. Along with amateur wrestling, he was very active in the traditional Indian wrestling, where he had won all major titles, including Hind Kesari, ''Bharat Kesari'', ''Bharat Bhim'', ''Rustom-e-Hind'' and ''Maha Bharat Kesari''. He is remembered for the work that he has done for the introduction, acceptance and popularization of the women's wrestling in India. Some of his trainees went on to become prominent women's wrestling coaches of the country. In 1969,

Government of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

(GoI) conferred the

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, on ...

on him for his achievements in the tradition wrestling. And two years later, he was conferred with the country's fourth highest civilian award –

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is confe ...

Early and personal life

Ram was born on 9 November 1937 in Sisai village of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

's Hisar, which is located in the present-day

Hisar district Hisar district is one of the 22 districts of Haryana, India. Hisar city serves as the district headquarters. Hisar district has four sub-divisions that is, Hisar, Barwala, Hansi and Narnaud, each headed by an SDM. The district is also part of ...

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ...

, India. He took up wrestling at a comparatively older age of 21 and became national champion three years later in 1961. He married three times and had three daughters and three sons. Ram, who was popularly known as Master Chandgi Ram, served in

Indian army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four ...

Jat Regiment The Jat Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army, of which it is one of the longest-serving regiments.

Career

Ram became national champion for the first time in 1961 at

Ajmer Ajmer is one of the major and oldest cities in the Indian state of Rajasthan and the centre of the eponymous Ajmer District. It is located at the centre of Rajasthan. It is also known as heart of Rajasthan. The city was established as "''Aj ...

, regaining his title two years later at

Jalandhar Jalandhar is the third most-populous city in the Indian state of Punjab and the largest city in Doaba region. Jalandhar lies alongside the Grand Trunk Road and is a well-connected rail and road junction. Jalandhar is northwest of the state ...

. Although he represented India in

amateur wrestling Amateur wrestling is a variant of wrestling practiced in collegiate, school, or other amateur level competitions. There are two international wrestling styles performed in the Olympic Games: freestyle and Greco-Roman. Both styles are under the ...

, he remained very active in the traditional Indian wrestling in 1960s, where he had won all major titles, including Hind Kesari, ''Bharat Kesari'', ''Bharat Bhim'', ''Rustom-e-Hind'' and ''Maha Bharat Kesari''. In 1969,

(GoI) conferred the

on him for his achievements in the tradition wrestling. In the

, he represented India in the 100 kg freestyle event. He reached to the final defeating en route the world championships medallist Abolfazl Anvari of Iran. In the final, he defeated Japan's Shizuo Yada, there by winning gold medal. For the

, he shifted to lower weight category and represented India in the 90 kg freestyle event. He lost his first bout to Canada's

George Saunders George Saunders (born December 2, 1958) is an American writer of short stories, essays, novellas, children's books, and novels. His writing has appeared in ''The New Yorker'', '' Harper's'', ''McSweeney's'', and '' GQ''. He also contributed a w ...

. He was eliminated after losing his next bout to the eventual silver medallist Gennady Strakhov. After participating in the 1972 Olympics, he shifted from Haryana to Delhi, where he opened up his wrestling training centre in 1975 – ''Chandgi Ram Vyayamshala''.

Work for the women's wrestling in India

Ram's struggle to introduce women's wrestling in India begun in 1997, which was the year of its inclusion in the Olympics. To start with, he persuaded both of his daughters –

Sonika Kaliraman Sonika Kaliraman is an Indian woman professional wrestler to win the title of Bharat Kesri in Bharat Kesri Dangal in 2001. She was a contestant on the popular reality show ''Bigg Boss ''Bigg Boss'' is an Indian reality television game sh ...

and Deepika Kaliraman – to join wrestling. His wrestling training center, which is commonly known as the ''Chandgi Ram Akhara'', became India's first training center for women's wrestling. He also started to persuade coaches and wrestlers around the country to introduce women's exhibition matches in the traditional wrestling tournaments. All these efforts resulted in severe opposition both from the outsiders and the insiders of his training center. At one of the instances, when Ram's two daughters went to the wrestling pit during a village tournament of Haryana, they, along with Ram, were stoned and chased by the villagers. But, in spite of all the opposition, he kept on his efforts. Sonika went on to win country's highest wrestling title – Bharat Kesri – along with becoming Asian Junior Wrestling Champion. Ram also influenced future women's wrestling coaches. One of his wards,

Mahavir Singh Phogat Mahavir Singh Phogat is an Indian amateur wrestler, senior Olympics coach and politician. He is the trainer and father of the Phogat sisters. The Hindi biographical film '' Dangal'' is loosely based on his life. Phogat was awarded the Drona ...

– who trained at Ram's center since the age of 16 – was persuaded by Ram to introduce his daughters to wrestling. Phogat went on to train his daughters Geeta and Babita, along with their cousin Vinesh, all of whom became international wrestlers. Jabbar, who got inclined toward women's wrestling during his training stint under Ram, went on to train Alka Tomar. Jagroop Rathi, Ram's co-coach, was also convinced by him to introduce his daughter

Neha Rathi Neha Rathi is an Indian wrestler. She was born in Bhaproda village district Jhajjar, Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 o ...

into wrestling.

Awards

Legacy

* A sports stadium in

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

is named after him –

Master Chandgiram Sports Stadium, Saifai The Master Chandgi Ram Sports Stadium, Saifai is an national-level sports complex having a hockey pitch, multipurpose hall ( badminton & wrestling facilities), a swimming pool and Sports Authority of India (SAI) Training Centre in Saifai, Et ...

. * ''All India Chandgi Ram Gold Cup Wrestling Tournament'' is annually organised in his remembrance.

References

External links

*
Wrestling for fame
*The Physical Body

a visit with Guru Chandi-ram is included in the documentary {{DEFAULTSORT:Ram, Chandgi Asian Games medalists in wrestling Asian Games gold medalists for India Wrestlers at the 1970 Asian Games Olympic wrestlers of India Wrestlers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Indian male sport wrestlers Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports Recipients of the Arjuna Award 1937 births 2010 deaths Sport wrestlers from Haryana People from Hisar district Medalists at the 1970 Asian Games