Yatra adds muscle to traditional akhadas

Ahmedabad: They sweat it out from the morning to late afternoon atop trucks and on the roads, showing off their rippling muscles made to glisten with mustard oil. They demonstrate their skills with lathis, in forming the 'chakkar', and in weightlifting. it is not possible to imagine the annual Rath Yatra without the ' akhadians'. The procession itself has worked as glue for many from the Walled City, keeping them attached to sandy pits year after year.
"This year, Vijay Shinde, a Mumbai-based bodybuilder and gym trainer, is participating in the procession. He wanted to experience the energy and adulation, which a gym can't offer," said Rupesh Chauhan, 38, a resident of Dariyapur. "That is the very reason why many of the youths, who are settled in the western city parts and work as gym instructors, can be seen at the yatra."
For Chauhan, akhada training started when he was eight. Today, he supervises training at the SVM Akhada, which is 65 years old. And he has been participating in the procession for three decades. "We have kids coming to the akhada from areas such as Dariyapur, Shahpur, and Madhavpura. They get enamoured by the Rath Yatra platform," said Chauhan who attributes his success as a bodybuilder at the state level and a weightlifter at the national level to his training in the akhada.
This year, his akhada is going to show off some new skills, such as balancing on a truck tyre and balancing on two chairs, apart from the usual exercise regime.
Shirish Vaghela, a member of the Saraspur Sarvajinik Akhada, says that training for the Rath Yatra begins at least 45 days before the procession day. "The intensity increases to develop muscles and also to gain the necessary fitness to last the entire day," he said. "We meet after dinner for exercise and choose the best akhadians."
Akhada gurus don't mince words while talking about the infrastructure though. The traditional sand-filled akhada pits where participants used to wrestle have vanished from almost all akhadas as gym equipment have made a silent entry into many of them.
Thirty akhadas have been, traditionally, an integral part of the Rath Yatra procession. Few know how that traditional 30 secured their place. But one tradition has kept the other tradition alive at least in the Walled City.