the ancient sport of Mallakhamb

GAAR ADAMS penned one of ROADS AND KINGDOMS 14 MOST-READ STORIES OF 2014.

… in the lush highlands that hug sprawling Mumbai, this peculiar sport with apparatuses that look uncannily like medieval torture devises is still practiced. It is in these few ramshackle gymnasiums scattered throughout India’s Maharashtra—the same region where Mallakhamb’s origins are traced back to 12th century Sanskrit texts—where a strange tradition that features swinging clubs, rope burn between toes, and copious amounts of castor oil—is kept alive. …

THE STRANGEST SPORT NO ONE KNOWS