Indian Hercules: Freedom fighter Ramamurthy, Andhra strongman who awed the Britishers

Kodi Ramamurthy Naidu was known as the Indian Hercules and conferred with the Kaliyuga Bhima title. The legendary Andhra wrestler was not only a strongman but was also active in the freedom movement. He not only joined the movement but also donated a considerable amount for India’s independence fight. Sadly, he passed away a couple of years before he could see an independent India.

Throughout the course of human history there have been folk tales as well as recorded incidents of people who displayed incredible strength. Every country and every culture in the world have stories about its own strongmen who pulled off phenomenal feats of strength. In mythology there are stories of many strongmen like Hercules, Samson and Bhima but even if we take only examples of real-life people some tales are truly astonishing.

In India the strongest men have usually come out of Punjab. One such was the Great Gama whose strength was legendary. In the early 20th century, he was an undefeated wrestling champion of British India. Undefeated in a career spanning more than 52 years, he is considered one of the greatest wrestlers of all time.

In the Andhra region there was Ramamurthy Naidu who could match the strongest men anywhere in the land. His name has been spelled in different ways like Ram Murti Naidu or Rammurthy but they all refer to the same man. He was a champion wrestler, bodybuilder and celebrated strongman who fascinated British officials before independence, with his feats of strength.

Great Gama was an undefeated wrestling champion of British India. Undefeated in a career spanning more than 52 years, he is considered one of the greatest wrestlers of all time.

Rammurthy was awe inspiring

Naidu was born in 1882 or 1883 in Srikakulam district and passed away in 1942. He lived when India was under the British Raj but even British army officers and soldiers were in awe of him. It is said that he could stand in the middle of two cars pointing in opposite directions and then prevent the cars from moving away by holding them back with his hands. He was honoured with the title of ‘The Indian Hercules’ by none other than King George V, the monarch of Great Britain at that time.

His mother died when he was a child

Naidu’s mother died when he was a mere child. After that his father Venkanna, lavished a lot of care upon the child. But later, when he showed no inclination to study and neglected his academic work, his father became vexed with the boy and sent him away to live with his uncle in Vizianagaram.

The uncle was a police officer and he introduced the growing boy to a fitness-cum-wrestling club and the teenager developed a love for wrestling. Soon he established himself in the sport and became famous throughout the region. After finishing his studies, Ramamurthy was appointed as a drill master in his own school and continued his own training as well as training other students.

An article on Kodi Ramamurthy in a magazine. Pic: PICRYL

In 1901, he joined a college in Saidapet, Madras (now Chennai), and trained teachers of Physical Education. In 1911 he displayed his skills of breaking steel chains, stopping motor cars and allowing an elephant to pass over his chest in front of many senior government officials in Madras.

Demonstrated his strength to INC members

Naidu demonstrated his strength at a meeting of the Indian National Congress thereby impressing many of the nation’s leading political figures. INC president Madan Mohan Malaviya was so impressed that he sponsored a trip for Naidu and a few others to London where they could show off their feats to the British men and women. It was during this trip that King George V saw his display at Buckingham Palace and gave him the title of Indian Hercules.

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Naidu trained and motivated other youths to develop strength and fitness. While several of his students also achieved some success, none reached the heights that Naidu did. Later on, Naidu was attracted towards the freedom movement through D Chandrayya Naidu, who used to organise tribal youths against the British rulers. He joined the freedom struggle and also donated lakhs of rupees out of his own earnings to charity and for the freedom movement of India.

He passed away during the time of Sankranti in 1942 in Odisha where he was staying at the time. After his passing, a stadium in Srikakulam was named after him, the Kodi Ramamurty stadium, which still stands today as a memorial to his outstanding feats.

A statue of Ramamurthy Naidu was installed on the Beach Road of Visakhapatnam, and another statue is also situated in his hometown, Veeraghattam. Conferred the title Kaliyuga Bhima, his legacy was supposed to remain forever among the wrestling community and the Telugu community. But sadly, even in his own state, not many remember his amazing feats today.