In a world full of flashy gym memberships and high-tech fitness trackers, a quiet yet powerful recovery movement is rising in Maharashtra. The region’s traditional workout methods are gaining respect again. These include mallakhamb, lathi kathi, surya namaskar, and dand-baithak.
They have been around for centuries and are well-established. This time, they're attracting not just fair wrestlers and rustic competitors. They're also drawing in urban youth, wellness fans, influencers, and even celebrities. These groups seek real, lasting ways to build quality, skill, and mental focus.
In cities and towns over Maharashtra, age-old wellness strategies are making a comeback. Youthful individuals are turning absent from exercise center machines. Instep they grasp conventional workouts. These incorporate mallakhamb dand-baithak gada preparing and mardani khel. These hones guarantee quality continuance and mental center without favor gear.
The Bequest of Conventional Maharashtrian Fitness
Maharashtra, especially Pune and Kolhapur, has a wealthy legacy of physical preparing. The state has a rich tradition of fitness. It features famous akhadas, or wrestling schools. It also boasts mallakhamb, a unique blend of yoga and strength training on a pole or rope. These practices emphasize strength, agility, rhythm, and discipline.
Historically, these workouts weren't just about physique. They were deeply rooted in teaching, a strong sense of self, and community life. At first light, preparation often happened without shoes. People used their body weight and simple tools like wooden clubs (mudgars), ropes, and bamboo sticks. This focus helped build strength, balance, and mental toughness.
These hones were passed down through the ages. They were valued not only for building strong bodies but also for teaching virtues like self-control, humility, and focus. These qualities are being rediscovered in our fast-paced, tech-driven world.
Why the Shift From Gyms?
Modern gyms are convenient. They have machines, planned routines, and trained coaches. But they’re often expensive. They can feel impersonal. In differentiate, conventional workouts are low-cost or free. All you require is space, body weight, and basic tools.
Many specialists too say these strategies interface them to their roots and culture. They feel more common and all encompassing. Guru–shishya (teacher–student) convention brings teach and regard. Basic mud akhadas (conventional exercise centers) supplant air-conditioned workout halls.
1: Mallakhamb: The Wrestler’s Pole
Mallakhamb takes put on a vertical wooden shaft, a hanging post, or a rope. Competitors climb, bend, and hold yoga-like postures. It started in Maharashtra and dates back centuries.
- Pole mallakhamb: A 2.6m–high pole fixed in the ground
- Hanging mallakhamb: A shorter pole suspended a bit above the ground.
- Rope mallakhamb: A long cotton rope is used instead of wood
This workout builds grip strength, core stability, balance, flexibility, and stamina. It also sharpens focus and boosts courage, since performers hang and spin in the air. Coaches compare it to modern pole fitness, but say it's much harder.
Mallakhamb is tied to wrestler tradition. It gained formal recognition in sports championships as early as 1958. Today, states in India host national mallakhamb championships. It blends art, sport, and tradition.
2: Dand-Baithak: Body-Weight Strength Training
Dand (push-ups) and baithak (squats) are ancient Indian calisthenics. They were staples in akhadas for wrestlers and soldiers. Dand refers to a Hindu Push-up where the body arches down and curves up in one smooth flow. This is followed by baithak, a deep squat, with arms sweeping forward. You may also lift up your heels.
This workout uses body weight alone. It builds muscular endurance, flexibility, joint strength, and mobility. Fitness experts today compare it to calisthenics and function-focused exercises. Dand-baithak routines are simple but tough. They form the backbone of traditional warrior training. Their revival in youth circles shows a return to disciplined, accessible fitness.
3: Gada Training: The Warrior’s Mace
A gada is a club or mace. It’s a heavy stick with a metal or stone head. It was used by ancient warriors and linked to Hanuman in stories. Practitioners swing the gada in circular motions behind and around their body. Jori club training uses two smaller wooden clubs for rhythmic patterns.
These swings build shoulder, arm, back, forearm, and grip strength. They also develop coordination, endurance, and core stability. Trainers say this method develops raw power and functional movement. Gada routines connect today’s youth with warrior traditions. They form part of pehlwani (wrestler) conditioning and historical martial systems.
4: Mardani Khel: The Martial Legacy
Mardani khel is a martial art of Maharashtra. It involves fighting styles with weapons like lathi (sticks), swords, spears, daggers, horns, shields, whips, and more. Students learn stances, strikes, blocks, footwork, disarms, and traditional drills. They train in talims—rural gyms centered around martial skill.
It strengthens muscles reflexes agility and hand-eye coordination. Training builds mental toughness and situational awareness. Practitioners say the work is rhythmic disciplined and rich in heritage.
This system was used by Maratha warriors for battlefield readiness. It kept rising in strength until advances in cannon and fortress defense made it less central. It preserves a historic mode of self-defense and martial identity.
Popularity and Revival
These traditional workouts are seeing a revival in both rural and urban Maharashtra. They’re easy to start, often free, and full of character. Videos of young mallakhamb artists and gada swingers are going viral.
Akhadas are reappearing in school yards. Workshops in akhadas for dand-baithak and mardani khel attract teenagers. Many say these routines give stronger physical and mental benefits than typical gym workouts. They look beyond building muscle—they build roots.
Wellness specialists propose present day exercise centers and conventional works out can consolidate. Combining body-weight preparing with careful breathing includes quality and adaptability. Including gada or mardani drills to a exercise center schedule can progress coordination and continuance.
Some fitness centers now include mallakhamb sessions or akhada-style workouts alongside standard classes. They aim to offer accessible options that connect culture and physical health.
Shrikant Jadhav, a veteran trainer, shifted from gym culture to akhada workouts. He says, I felt more connected to my body. I wasn’t just lifting weights. I was building inner strength. A teenage mallakhamb student from Pune shared, When I climb the pole, I get calm and focused. It's not just exercise—it’s art.
The Bigger Picture
Traditional workouts provide more than fitness. They pass on knowledge, discipline, and culture. They preserve a way of life rooted in Maharashtra’s history. As gyms continue to expand, traditional methods offer something gyms can’t: connection. Connection to history, self, and community.
By embracing mallakhamb, dand-baithak, gada work, and mardani khel, young people are forging new paths. They stay fit. They stay human. And they keep tradition alive. The next decade may bring a hybrid model of fitness. Schools might teach yoga and mallakhamb alongside sports. Gyms may offer gada-swing zones or akhada training areas.
Cultural festivals are showing traditional workouts on stage. Social media highlights local heroes who master dand-baithak or skillfully spin around a mallakhamb pole. Workshop enrollments are growing. This may just be the start of a fitness renaissance. One that values heritage as much as results.
Traditional Maharashtrian workouts stand strong today. They work every part of the body. They test the mind. They connect people to their heritage. Whether you choose mallakhamb, dand-baithak, gada swings, or mardani khel, you are choosing more than a workout. You are choosing history. You are choosing discipline. You are choosing strength, inside and out.
Final Thoughts
The revival of traditional Maharashtrian workouts is more than just a wellness trend; it’s a social change. In a world of costly workouts, Maharashtra’s fitness traditions show you can get fit without expensive machines or memberships. You can build a strong body and mind with simple methods.
As more people understand these natural skills, we see a great blend. Ancient wisdom meets modern ideas. Rural strength combines with city hopes. Heritage becomes the heartbeat of future wellness.
In the words of a youthful mallakhamb professional from Pune In the exercise center, I was lifting weights. On the shaft, I am lifting myself. Mumbaikars and Maharashtrians are lifting themselves up, both physically and in spirit. They are finding an old truth: when wellness is part of culture, it’s not just strong; it’s life-changing.
