On his 144th birthday, Google honoured the unbeaten Indian wrestler Gama Pehlwan, often known as "The Great Gama," with a Doodle.
The Great Gama or Gama Pehlwan was a pehlwani wrestler who was born on May 22, 1878, in Amritsar's Jabbowal hamlet (a form of South Asian wrestling also known as Kushti).
In the early twentieth century, he went by the name Ghulam Mohammad Baksh Butt and became the champion of India (Rustam-e-Hind) and the globe. Throughout his incredible five-decade career, Gama stayed unbeaten. He was just ten years old when he defeated every wrestler that stood in his way. During the Indian subcontinent's liberation movement, he inspired innumerable people, including martial artist and actor Bruce Lee.
In 1910, he won the World Heavyweight Championship after defeating renowned wrestlers in London. After that, he defeated world champions like as Stanislaus Zbyszko, Frank Gotch, and Benjamin Roller.
Gama won a number of championships throughout his career, including the Indian versions of the World Heavyweight Championship (1910) and the World Wrestling Championship (1927), for which he was given the nickname "Tiger."
Legends choose his legacy, including Bruce Lee, who was a big fan of Gama's training practise. Gama taught Lee 'The Cat Stretch,' which was a Yoga-based variation of push-ups. Inspire by the Great Gama, Lee also did baithaks.
Gama resided in Amritsar before the Partition was proclaimed. However, because to escalating ethnic tensions in the city, he relocated to Lahore in early 1947, where he fought several bouts.
He also saved numerous Hindus from frenzied mobs during this horrific period. Gama Pehlwan lived the last few years of his life in poverty, with little or no help from the Pakistani government.
Following a protracted illness, he died in 1960 at the age of 82. He had asthma and had a cardiac condition. Gama is a great pre-independence Indian sports champion and a symbol of our fight against colonialism.