| Maharashtra Kesari | |
| Sport: | Indian-style wrestling |
| Location: | Maharashtra, India |
| Month Played: | --> |
| Month Played: | --> |
| Establishment: | 1961(Current Format) |
| Current Champion: | Shivraj rakshe |
| Most Titles: | Narsing Yadav, Vijay Chaudhary (3 titles each)--> |
Maharashtra Kesari (in Sanskrit) is an Indian-style wrestling championship, established in 1854 in Maharashtra, India. It is organized by the Maharashtra Kustigir Parishad.
Cash prize was awarded to the winner since the start. But since 1982, initiated by wrestler Mamasaheb Mohol, the winner was permanently awarded with a silver mace weighing .[1] the winner received a silver mace and a cash prize of .[2] In addition, Government of Maharashtra also provided honorary sum amount to the title holders above age 50. Until 2012, to be eligible for this amount, the title holder's annual income had to be less than.[3] In 2015, the cash prize was raised to .
The winners are also eligible to apply for government jobs under sports quota.[4]
Sardar Bhomji Panchariya won the first championship in 1854. Narsing Yadav holds the record of winning the title three times consecutively from 2011 to 2013 and in 2016 Vijay chaudhary tied the record of Narsing Yadav. Vijay also won three times consecutively from 2014 to 2016, whereas Ganpat Khedkar, Chamba Mutnaal, Laxman Wadar, Dadu Chougule and Chandrahar Patil have won the title twice. After winning his second title in 2008, Chandrahar Patil also competed in the 2009 championship whereas previous double title holders had not competed the third time. Yuvaraj Patil hold the record of being the youngest winner at the age of 17.[5]
Maharashtra State Kustigir Parishad, established by Wrestling Maharshi Mamasaheb Mohol, has been organizing the highest level 'Maharashtra Kesari' wrestling competition in the state for the last six-seven decades. The aim of this competition is to make wrestling evolve, to make good wrestlers out of the region and help them shine at the country and world level. Maharashtra Kesari is being held in the clay and matt divisions. In this, the winner wrestler from the clay division open category and the winner wrestler from the mattress division open category will fight the final on Matt as per international standards, and the winner of this final fight is declared as 'Maharashtra Kesari' and the honorary mace of Maharashtra Kesari is awarded.
| Year | Winner | Runner-up | Venue | Ref. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1854 | Sardar Bhomji Panchariya | Nashik | Record Not Available | Nashik | |||
| 1953 | Tukaram Nana Phalke | Pune | |||||
| 1955 | Cancelled | Mumbai | |||||
| 1959 | Record Not Available | Solapur | |||||
| 1960 | No Result | Nagpur | |||||
| 1961 | Dinkar Patil (Dahyarikar) | Dahyari, Sangli-Kolhapur | Hanmant Mane / Biraju Yadav? | Aurangabad | |||
| 1962 | Bhagwan More | Sangli | Sadashiv Takmoge | Dhule | |||
| 1963 | Cancelled | Satara | |||||
| 1964 | June Khed, Sangli-Kolhapur | Biraju Yadav | Amravati | [6] | |||
| 1965 | Ganpatrao Khedkar | June Khed, Sangli-Kolhapur | Mohan Bhise | Nashik | |||
| 1966 | Deenanath Singh | Varanasi-Kolhapur | Chamba Mutnal | Jalgaon | |||
| 1967 | Kolhapur-Karnatak | Dada Mane | Khamgaon, Buldhana | ||||
| 1968 | Chamba Mutnal | Kolhapur | Parasram Patil | Ahmednagar | |||
| 1969 | Harishchandra Birajdar | Osmanabad-Latur | Dadu Chougule | Latur | |||
| 1970 | Kolhapur | Parasram Patil | Pune | ||||
| 1971 | Dadu Chougule | Kolhapur | Sahebrao Jadhav | Alibaug, Raigad | |||
| 1972 | Kerle, Kolhapur | Mohan Bhise | Kolhapur | [7] | |||
| 1973 | Laxman Wadar | Kerle, Kolhapur | Raghunath Pawar | Akola | |||
| 1974 | Yuvraj Patil | Koparde, Kolhapur | Raghunath Pawar | Thane | |||
| 1975 | Raghunath Pawar | Pune | Agnel Negro | Chandrapur | |||
| 1976 | Hiraman Bankar | Chimbali, Pune | Shivaji Pachpute | Akluj, Solapur | |||
| 1977 | No Result | Chalisgaon, Jalgaon | |||||
| 1978 | Appasaheb Kadam | Sangli | Shivaji Pachpute | Mumbai | |||
| 1979 | Shivaji Pachpute | Mumbai | Madar Nabab | Nashik | |||
| 1980 | Ismail Shaikh | Solapur | Ramesh Takawale,Hargude | Khopoli, Raigad | |||
| 1981 | Bapurao Lokhande (ढवळ) | Satara | Saradar Khushahal | Nagpur | |||
| 1982 | Sambhaji Patil | Asgaon, Kolhapur | Saradar Khushahal | Beed | |||
| 1983 | Saradar Khushahal | Indore-Kolhapur | Vishnu Bhandari | Pune | |||
| 1984 | Ramkisan Lokhande | Kille Dharur, Beed | Shankar Todkar | DadarMumbai | |||
| 1985 | Vishnu Joshilkar | Kolhapur | Rama Mane | Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pune | |||
| 1986 | Gulab Barde | Rahuri, Ahmednagar | Dilip Pawar | Solapur | |||
| 1987 | Tanaji Bankar | Solapur | Pirmohmmad Attar / Dilip Pawar ? | Nagpur | |||
| 1988 | Raosaheb Magar | Nimgaon M, Solapur | Bala Rafi | Puluj | Ahmednagar | ||
| 1989 | No Result | Wardha | |||||
| 1990 | No Result | Kolhapur | |||||
| 1991 | No Result | Amravti | |||||
| 1992 | Apaalal Sheikh | Boramani, Solapur- Kolhapur | Maula Shaikh / Sanjay Patil ? | Akkalkot, Solapur | Pune | ||
| 1993 | Udayraj Yadav | Boramani, Solapur- Mumbai | Balu Padgham | Balewadi, Pune | |||
| 1994 | Sanjay Patil | Karad,Satara- Mumbai | Maula Shaikh | Akola | |||
| 1995 | Shivaji Kekan | Beed | Saheb Solanke / Raju Lonari ? | Nashik | |||
| 1996 | Cancelled | ||||||
| 1997 | Ashok Shirke | Ahmednagar | Balu Padgham | Deoli, Wardha | |||
| 1998 | Gorakhnath Sarak | Satara | Maula Shaikh | Nagpur | |||
| 1999 | Dhanaji Phadtare | Satara | Anil Ashruba Raut / Raju Barguje ? | Beed | Pune | ||
| 2000 | Vinod Dadu Chougule | Kolhapur | Rahul Kalbhor | Khamgaon, Buldhana | |||
| 2001 | Rahul Kalbhor | Pune | Dattatray Gaikwad | Nanded | |||
| 2002 | Munnalal Shaikh | Solapur-Mumbai | Chandrakant Sul | Solapur | Jalana | ||
| 2003 | Dattatray Gaikwad | Pune | Bharat Mekale | Yavatmal | |||
| 2004 | Chandrahas Nimgire | Jeurwadi, Solapur | Ravi Patil | Washi | |||
| 2005 | Sayeed (Ali Kardoos) Chaus | Beed | Asab Ahmed | Indapur, Pune | |||
| 2006 | Amol Buchade | Pune-Mumbai | Aba Sul | Baramati, Pune | [8] | ||
| 2007 | Sangli | Atul Patil | Aurangabad | [9] | |||
| 2008 | Chandrahar Patil | Sangli | Sandeep Barguje | Kadegaon, Sangli | |||
| 2009 | Vijay (Vicky) Bankar | Sangli-Pune | Sayeed (Ali Kardoos) Chaus | Sangavi, Pune | [10] | ||
| 2010 | Samadhan Ghodke | Solapur | Nandkumar Abdaar | Rohe, Raigad | [11] | ||
| 2011 | Mumbai | Atul Patil | Akluj, Solapur | ||||
| 2012 | Narsing Yadav | Mumbai | Vijay Choudhary | Jalgaon | Gondia | [12] | |
| 2013 | Narsing Yadav | Mumbai | Sunil Salunke | Mumbai | Bhosari, Pune | [13] | |
| 2014 | Jalgaon | Sachin Yelbar | Ahmednagar | [14] | |||
| 2015 | Vijay Chaudhary | Jalgaon | Vikrant Jadhav | Mumbai | Nagpur | [15] | |
| 2016 | Vijay Chaudhary | Jalgaon | Abhijit Katake | Pune | Waraje,Pune | [16] | |
| 2017 | Abhijit Katake | Pune | Kiran Bhagat | Satara | Bhugaon, Pune | ||
| 2018 | Bala Rafik Shaikh | Karmala, Solapur-Bhuldhana | Abhijit Katake | Pune | Jalana | ||
| 2019 | Harshad Sadgir | Nashik | Shailesh Shelke | Latur | Mhalunge-Balewadi, Pune | ||
| 2020 | Cancelled | ||||||
| 2021-22 | Pruthviraj Patil | Kolhapur | Vishal (Prakash) Bankar | Solapur | Satara | ||
| 2022-23 | Shivraj rakshe | nanded | Mahender gaikwad | Pune | |||
| 2023-24 | Sikander Shaikh | Solapur | _ | Pune | |||
Other Title holders from Maharashtra
| Year | Winner | Runner-up | Venue | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | Shripati Khanchnale | Kolhapur | Banta Sing (Punjab Kesari) | Delhi | ||
| 1960 | Ganpatrao Andhalkar | Kolhapur | Khadak Singh | Mumbai | ||
| 1964 | Maruti Mane | Kavathe Pirhan, Sangli | Mehruddin | Karnal, Haryana | ||
| 1966 | Hazrat Patel | Achegaon, Solapur | Ahmedabad | |||
| 1969 | Harishchandra Birajdar | Nilanga, Latur | Jharkhand Rai | Kanpur | ||
| 1971 | Deenanath Singh | Kolhapur | Lal Bahadur Singh | Bihar | Nagpur | |
| 1975 | Chamba Mutnal | Kolhapur | Banglore | |||
| 2003 | Vinod Dadu Chougule | Kolhapur | Suresh Nad | Nashik | ||
| 2005 | Yogesh Dodke | Pune | Pravin Kumar | Haryana | Ahmednagar | |
| 2013 | Amol Barate | Pune | Sonu Kumar | Air Force | Bivani, Haryana | |
| 2014 | Santosh Vetal | Karad | DevendraKumar | Haryana | ||
| 2015 | Sunil Salunkhe | Sangola, Solapur | Hitesh Kumar | Punjab | Jamkhandi, Karnataka | |
| 2023 | Abhijit Katake | Pune | Somveer | Harayana | Hyderabad | |
| Year | Winner | Runner-up | Venue | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vishnupant Nagrale | ||||||
| 1972 | Harishchandra Birajdar | Nilanga, Latur | Netrapal Singh | Army-Delhi | Varanasi | |
| 1973 | Dadu Chougule | Kolhapur | Mumbai | |||
| 2010 | Amol Buchade | Pune | Kamaljeet | Punjab | Punjab | |
Olympics
Khashaba Jadhav - Bronze Bantamweight1952 Summer Olympics
National Awards
| 1963-Ganpatrao Andhalkar |
| 1998-Kakasaheb Pawar |
| 2000-Khashaba Jadhav posthumously |
| 2012-Narsingh Yadav |
| 2020-Rahul Aware |
| 2005-Maruti Mane |
| 2006-Harishchandra Birajdar |
| 2018-Dadu Chougule |
Hiraman Bankar is father of Vijay Bankar. Dadu Chaugule is father of vinod Chaughule.