Mahavir Singh Phogat: Of Dangal fame, the legendary wrestling coach who dared to dream

As a wrestler, Mahavir Singh Phogat never represented India or even won a single national-level medal in the sport. However, very few names in Indian wrestling command the respect that Mahavir does today.

Mahavir Singh Phogat’s exploits as a coach, mentoring his daughters Geeta Phogat, Babita, Ritu Phogat and Sangita Phogat and nieces Vinesh Phogat and Priyanka Phogat, both of whom Mahavir addresses as his own 'daughters', changed Indian women’s wrestling forever. It even inspired the hit Bollywood film Dangal starring superstar Aamir Khan.

Among the famous Phogat sisters trained and raised by Mahavir, Geeta, the eldest, holds the distinction of being the first Indian women’s wrestler to qualify for the Olympics (London 2012) and to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games (New Delhi 2010). Babita is also a former Commonwealth Games champion (Glasgow 2014).

Though both Geeta and Babita are world championships bronze medallists, Vinesh Phogat was the first Indian woman to win multiple world championship medals (2019 and 2022). A record three-time Commonwealth Games champion, Vinesh has also won the Asian Games crown at Jakarta 2018.

Ritu and Priyanka, meanwhile, have both won international medals for India while Sangita, too, has represented India at international meets and was a national-level medallist.

While the list of achievements reflects Mahavir’s feat as a coach, it doesn’t quite fully illuminate his contributions as a social revolutionary.

When Mahavir Singh Phogat took it upon himself to train his daughters in 2000, wrestling was almost exclusively a male-dominated sport in India, Furthermore, in Haryana, the state which the Phogat family hails from, the concept of women’s rights was still at a very nascent stage.

Where is Mahavir Singh Phogat from

Mahavir Singh Phogat was born in the Balali village of Haryana’s Bhiwani district. His father Maan Singh was a farmer while his mother was a housewife. Mahavir had five brothers. Vinesh and Priyanka are the daughters of his youngest brother, Rajpal.

Mahavir’s father Maan Singh, interestingly, was a reputed local wrestler in his time and is said to have even gone toe-to-toe with Lila Ram, the first Indian wrestler to win a Commonwealth Games gold medal (Cardiff 1958), at regional dangal competitions. Lila Ram hailed from a neighbouring village. 

Growing up, however, Mahavir’s first love was kabaddi and not wrestling. Till class five, Mahavir Phogat was also good at academics but his interest in studies slowly waned with time and sports took centre stage.

A star raider for his school teams in district-level tournaments, Mahavir Singh Phogat was popular in his neighbourhood for his prowess in kabaddi. In AKHADA: The Authorized Biography of Mahavir Singh Phogat by Saurabh Duggal, Mahavir admits that he was granted special privileges at school and home for being a brilliant kabaddi player.

However, when it came to helping out with household chores, there was no preferential treatment for the young kabaddi star as his mother was a stickler for discipline - a trait which would later go on to define Mahavir the coach.

After Mahavir barely passed his Class VII exams, his family thought that he was spending too much time playing kabaddi and hanging out with friends. To get his academics back on track, Mahavir was sent to the Hanusar district in the Churu district in Rajasthan to live with his elder brother Rajinder, who worked there as a school teacher.

Though his academics didn’t improve, Mahavir’s time in Rajasthan proved pivotal as he took up wrestling seriously and started taking part in dangals - locally-arranged village and district competitions popular in north India where wrestlers can win money for winning bouts.

Mahavir returned to Bhiwani a year later and continued wrestling. His weak academics saw him fail his Class X boards and Mahavir decided against retaking it. Landing a government job to support his family was his goal and Mahavir decided to pursue it through the sports quota.

Mahavir Singh Phogat’s wrestling career

After convincing his parents, Mahavir Phogat enrolled himself in Master Chandgi Ram’s famous akhada in Delhi to train as a wrestler. Over the next three years, it became his home.

Under the watchful eyes of Chandgi Ram, who won a gold medal in the men’s 100kg category at the 1970 Asian Games and represented India in the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Mahavir continued developing his wrestling skills. Perhaps more importantly, Mahavir was exposed to a mindset that shaped him for the future.

Chandgi Ram, who earned the title ‘Master’ because he was a fine arts teacher as well, was a true pioneer for women’s wrestling in India. He introduced both his daughters, Sonika and Deepika Kaliraman, to the male-dominated sport as early as the mid-1990s - something almost inconceivable at the time.

Sonika, in fact, went on to become the country’s first woman wrestler to receive the coveted Bharat Kesari title.

Some of Mahavir’s close friends and peers in Master Chandgi Ram’s akhada went on to become reputed wrestlers for India - something which Mahavir couldn’t emulate despite possessing similar talent.

“My vision was only restricted to getting a government job, so I couldn’t go beyond a certain level,” Mahavir said. “At training, we were all at a similar level. If I had that target, I, too, could have been an international wrestler.”

Mahavir made a good name for himself in the dangal circuit and in 1982, landed a job with the Haryana State Electricity Board (HSEB) through trials. His brother Krishan also worked for HSEB.

Representing HSEB, Mahavir became the Haryana state champion and went on to represent the state at the 1982 nationals in Maharashtra. However, Mahavir, who was primarily a dangal wrestler where only a 'pin' would win a bout, struggled to cope with the points system in place at the national championships.

In 1983, Mahavir played his final official wrestling bout. In the 60kg final at a tournament in Chandigarh, Mahavir was in total control of his opponent but his grip slipped in the final seconds and he lost the bout by fall. The manner in which he lost took a toll on the wrestler. He soon quit HSEB.

Mahavir then landed a job with the Border Security Force (BSF) on sports quota but quit after a few days. He decided to start a real estate business with some friends in Delhi and built a successful business after starting the venture with a loan of Rs 16,000 from his father.

It made Mahavir financially secure and even allowed him to buy his favourite Royal Enfield bike. “It suits my personality,” Mahavir quipped.

In 1985, Mahavir Singh Phogat married Daya Kaur and the couple became parents for the first time in 1988 as Geeta was born. The same year, Mahavir wrapped up his business in Delhi to move to Bhiwani and be with his family.

Babita was born a year later while Ritu and Sangita followed in 1994 and 1998, respectively. Mahavir’s youngest child, son Dushyant, was born in 2003 and is also a wrestler.

Mahavir tried out his hand in politics for a bit and despite not holding office himself, helped his wife and younger brother Sajjan win the village sarpanch elections in successive terms.

Return to wrestling as a coach

Ahead of the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Om Prakash Chautala, the then chief minister of Haryana, announced a prize money of Rs 1 crore to any Haryanvi athlete who could bring home a gold medal at the Olympics. Prize money of Rs 50 lakhs and 25 lakhs was earmarked for silver and bronze medallists, respectively.

Incidentally, India’s only medal at the Sydney 2000 was Karnam Mlleswari’s weightlifting bronze medal but it was a special one nonetheless. For the first time, an Indian woman won a medal at the Olympics.

Being married to Haryana weightlifter Rajesh Tyagi, Karnam Malleswari also became eligible for the Haryana government’s bronze medal award as the daughter-in-law of the state.

The sequence of events sparked something in Mahavir and soon enough, Mahavir could be seen digging up a mud pit in his backyard. Believing that Mahavir, a former wrestler, wanted to train himself again, no one paid much attention to it but when his original intention came to the fore, it shocked the villagers and family members alike.

When Mahavir introduced Geeta, then 12, Babita, then 11, and Ritu, six at the time, to the completed wrestling mud pit, the girls thought of it as a plaything. But soon, the intensity of Mahavir’s training made his intentions clear.

Mahavir Singh Phogat had taken to heart the Sydney 2000 Olympic motto of ‘Dare to Dream’ and was hell-bent on trying to shape his daughters into Olympic champs. Villagers called it ‘madness’.

“It came as no surprise that they couldn’t comprehend my idea,” Mahavir Singh Phogat said. “The more they [the villagers] opposed or mocked me, the more determined I became. 

“It was only a matter of time before the girls proved their mettle by winning medals, not just in India but in international tournaments. Their hard work has now turned the scales in our favour and villagers consider their achievements a matter of pride.”

While he could ignore the jeering villagers, Mahavir’s biggest challenge came from inside the Phogat household, particularly his own father Maan Singh.

But Mahavir remained unmovable and continued to train his daughters. Soon enough, his determination won over his brothers and Vinesh joined in with the training. Mahavir also managed to convince the women of the house to help with his students’ nutritional needs.

With Geeta, Babita and Vinesh having no other female wrestlers of their own age to compete against, Mahavir used to pit them against their cousins of similar ages. It developed the girls quickly and soon enough, he also introduced them to dangals - an arena where female competitors were almost unheard of before.

“As they started competing in local dangals, where they would be the only female contestants. They would not only fight boys but also beat them convincingly,” Mahavir recalled.

A mere two years after he started training the sisters, Geeta, the eldest, won the gold medal in the 23rd cadet national championships 2002 in Ranipur to silence all doubters.

For the rest of the story, a mere glimpse at the Phogat sisters’ medal hauls over the past two decades and the Dronacharya Award, awarded to Mahavir in 2016, will suffice.

Mahavir, unlike he did himself, also made sure none of the Phogat sisters ignored their academics in the process. All of the sisters are graduates or are currently attending college.