Located adjacent to a historic gurdwara in the memory of Guru Gobind Singh at Alamgir village near Ludhiana, this is one of the oldest and most well-known akharas in Punjab. It traces its origin to the pre-Partition days and was set up by the Udasi sect of ascetics.

Since 1948, it has been patronised by one-time famed wrestlers Sikandar and his nephew Ram Krishan, who have dedicated their

land and life to the cause of wrestling. The akhara has honed the precocious talent of generations of traditional wrestlers, many of whom went on to win laurels in the modern styles of wrestling at the national and international levels.

While Kehar Singh and Sumer Singh won medals at the Commonwealth and South Asian Federation (SAF) Games, Jagdish Bhola was a silver medallist at the Asian Games and was decorated with the Arjuna Award.

The akhara’s dominance in the traditional style wrestling on the mud arena is legendary—a reputation that attracts budding wrestlers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. “We assess the age and agility of the candidate before admitting him,” says 74-year-old Sikandar, reverentially known as ‘ustadji’ in wrestling circles.