Kushti: traditional wrestling on red clay, is an ancient art of fighting that goes back to the 5th century BC and practiced in India, Pakistan and Iran.
Kushti imposes a harsh practice and strict rules on the wrestlers, some of whom start training as young as 5 years old. The practitioners often come from poor background, to them fighting in the arena means the chance to win a better life and money to support their families. Kushti wrestlers have kept the tradition alive and unchanged through the centuries, up until today when some of its best practitioners won some medals in the wrestling discipline at the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympics.
The Indian government, in fact, is seeking to shift the best wrestlers to train on mat rather then the soil following the official Olympics rules.
Here in Kolhapur, India, Kushti is still practiced and preserved in its original form. For now
This photographic project reflects the essence of the Kushti Indian Wrestling, portraying the harshness and the mesmerizing physicality of this ancient tradition through a series of close ups and ambience shots inside the arena. As the photographer dodges up to 10 wrestlers sparring simultaneously, bodies, muscles, glances and red soil melt together in a voluptuous composition enhanced by a deep natural light.
