“The Great Gama” — known by his ring name Ghulam Mohammad Baksh Butt — was born on this day in 1941.
His Google Doodle was created by illustrator Vrinda Zaveri. Born in Amritsar in 1878, as Gama Pehlwan, he began training at age 10. His career included many titles.
In 1910, he won the Indian version of the World Heavyweight Championship and in 1927, he won the World Wrestling Championship. Gama Pehlwan was an inspiration for modern wrestlers. He received the title of Tiger at the World championships. Bruce Lee, an actor and martial arts instructor, was a fan of the wrestler.
“He incorporated aspects of Gama’s conditioning into his own training routine!” a note accompanied the Google Doodle read. At the age of 10, Gama did 500 lunges and 500 pushups in his workout routine, according to Google.
The wrestler won a lunge contest in 1888 that included over 400 wrestlers from throughout the country. Gama earned fame throughout the royal states of India after winning the competition. He is also remembered for saving many Hindu lives during the violent partition of British India into India and Pakistan in 1947. He died in 1960 in Lahore.
In addition to Gama Pehlwan’s achievements in the ring, Google also recognized “his impact and representation of Indian culture”.