Early examples of
mallakhamba are seen on
Chandraketugarh pottery from between the 2nd century BCE and 1st century CE, where figures are shown exhibiting gymnastics by
hanging on a pole like structure in the
shape of a T which is held by another person. In 7th century CE,
Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzhang provides evidence of pole climbing of the pillar cult which he witnessed at Prayagraj. Xuanzhang records that Hindu ascetics climbed the top of a pole situated at Prayagraj, clinging onto it with one hand and one foot, and watched the sunset with their heads turned to the right as it set, marking it as a type a solar rite. The earliest mention of
mallakhamba in a literary work is in the 1135 CE Sanskrit classic
Manasollasa, written by the Western Chalukya king
Someshvara III. A
Rajput painting from 1610 CE shows athletes performing various
acrobatics, including
pole climbing, while dancing to Raga Desahka. A Mughal painting from 1670 depicts athletes practicing
club swinging, weightlifting, and pole climbing similar to
mallakhamba. Little mention of
mallakhamba exists between the late 17th century to the late 18th century, until it received new interest from Balambhatta Dada Deodhar, the teacher of
Peshwa Baji Rao II. During the first half of the 19th century,
Lakshmibai, the Rani of Jhansi learned
mallakhamba with her childhood friends
Nana Saheb and
Tantia Tope.
Mallakhamba was
demonstrated at the
1936 Summer Olympics. Competitive
mallakhamba made its first appearance in 1958 at the National Gymnastics Championships (NGCs) held at the Pahadganj Stadium,
Delhi,
India. The Gymnastics Federation of India (GFI) proposed to recognize the game and include it in subsequent NGCs. The first national
mallakhamba championships were held in 1962 at
Gwalior,
Madhya Pradesh, as part of the NGCs. Around 1968, the game was introduced in the All-India Inter-University Gymnastics Championships. The national
mallakhamba championships were organized annually by the GFI until 1976. In 1977, the
mallakhamba championships were removed from the GFI, and no major championship games were held until 1980. Bamshankar Joshi and other
mallakhamba enthusiasts in
Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, founded an all-India level organization named the Mallakhamb Federation of India. The first all-India national
mallakhamba championships were organized by the new sports association in 1981 from January 28 to 29 at Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh. The event brought in representatives from all over India. The national
mallakhamba championships have since been organized by different state associations affiliated to this federation. Competitively, there are three variations of
mallakhamba which have been in practice since 1937: • Pole
mallakhamba • Hanging
mallakhamba • Rope
mallakhamba All variations are practiced by both men and women, though pole
mallakhamba is more commonly practiced by men, and rope
mallakhamba by women. All
mallakhamba competitions are organized under the rules made by the Mallakhamb Federation of India, and 28 states are affiliated to the Federation. Himani Uttam Parab won gold medal in rope long set in the first World Mallakhamb Championship 2019. == Variations and specifications ==