| ID | 179410 |
| Title Proper | Pahalwan Baba Ramdev |
| Other Title Information | Wrestling with yoga and middle-class masculinity in India |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Alter, Joseph S |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | In the view of many people, Baba Ramdev embodies the practice of modern yoga in twenty-first century India. A tremendously successful entrepreneur, infamous ‘godman’ with political ties, and a highly visible TV personality, he is also a vocal supporter of pahalwani (Indian wrestling) as a way of life and of wrestling in India as a national sport. Beyond sponsorship of tournaments and support for a new professional wrestling league, he promotes a form of modern, nationalistic masculinity that draws on the ‘ideals’ of yoga, competitive athleticism, ‘Hindu’ conceptions of embodied power, and fetishized Vedic asceticism. In complex and often contradictory ways, Baba Ramdev's embodiment of these ideals shapes the bio-morality of wrestlers as they train, compete, and endorse his products. Critically analysed in terms of gender theory, his sponsorship of wrestling belies deep contradictions in religious nationalism, middle-class modernity, and in the gendered morality of both wrestling as a sport and yoga as a form of practice. |
| `In' analytical Note | Modern Asian Studies Vol. 55, No.4; Jul 2021: p.1359 - 1381 |
| Journal Source | Modern Asian Studies 2021-08 55, 4 |
| Key Words | India ; Baba Ramdev ; Pahalwan ; Wrestling with Yoga |