A dangal is the wrestling bout — pehlwans meeting in the mud arena before a roaring ring of villagers, with drums, wagers and a prize for the winner.
Meaning
ਦੰਗਲ (dangal) is the wrestling bout — the contest where pehlwans (wrestlers) meet in the mud arena, cheered by a ring of villagers. A dangal is not a quiet sporting event: drums, shouting, wagers on the outcome, and a prize — often a buffalo, a tractor, or cash — for the winner.
Origin and etymology
The word’s origin is not firmly established in the sources; it is the long-used Punjabi name for a wrestling contest.
Cultural context
The dangal is the classic entertainment of the mela and the festival: the akhada’s wrestlers testing themselves before the whole countryside. Bouts are fought in the traditional way — in a pit of softened earth, bodies oiled and dusted, the referee watching for the fall.
Great dangals draw famous pehlwans from across states, and a village that hosts a big dangal remembers it for years. In an age of television sport, the mud-pit dangal endures as the people’s wrestling — loud, earthy and completely alive.
ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਵਿੱਚ ਅਰਥ
ਦੰਗਲ ਕੁਸ਼ਤੀ ਦਾ ਮੁਕਾਬਲਾ ਹੈ। ਪਹਿਲਵਾਨ ਅਖਾੜੇ ਦੀ ਮਿੱਟੀ ਵਿੱਚ ਜ਼ੋਰ ਅਜ਼ਮਾਉਂਦੇ ਹਨ।
ਮੇਲਿਆਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਦੰਗਲ ਖ਼ਾਸ ਖਿੱਚ ਦਾ ਕੇਂਦਰ ਹੁੰਦੇ ਹਨ। ਢੋਲ ਵੱਜਦੇ ਹਨ, ਲੋਕ ਨਾਅਰੇ ਲਾਉਂਦੇ ਹਨ।
ਜਿੱਤਣ ਵਾਲੇ ਪਹਿਲਵਾਨ ਨੂੰ ਇਨਾਮ ਮਿਲਦਾ ਹੈ — ਕਦੇ ਮੱਝ, ਕਦੇ ਟਰੈਕਟਰ, ਕਦੇ ਨਕਦ।
How it's used
- 1ਮੇਲੇ ਵਿੱਚ ਵੱਡਾ ਦੰਗਲ ਹੋਇਆ।A grand wrestling bout was held at the fair.
- 2ਦੰਗਲ ਵਿੱਚ ਦੋ ਨਾਮੀ ਪਹਿਲਵਾਨ ਭਿੜੇ।Two famed wrestlers clashed in the bout.
- 3ਪਿੰਡ ਦੇ ਮੁੰਡੇ ਨੇ ਦੰਗਲ ਜਿੱਤ ਲਿਆ।The village lad won the wrestling bout.