She was India's first woman Wrestler…
On Saturday, 04 May 2024, Google honours India's first professional woman wrestler Hamida Banu. Bangalore-based artist Divya Negi illustrates the doodle. Ms. Banu is surrounded by local flora and fauna.
It also serves as a reminder of a female's entry into a sport that males in the 1940s and 50s dominated.
"This Doodle celebrates Indian wrestler Hamida Banu, who is widely considered India's first professional woman wrestler," written in the Google Doodle description.
Hamida Banu, is widely considered to be India's first woman wrestler. She was born in the early 1900s near Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. In her career spanning the 1940s and 1950s, Ms. Banu won more than 300 competitions.
May 4 was chosen as the date to honour Ms. Banu because it was on this day in 1954 that she challenged and defeated famed wrestler Baba Pahalwan.
Then she retired from professional wrestling.
"On this day in 1954, the wrestling match gave Banu international recognition and it was reported that she had defeated famous wrestler, Baba Pahalwan, in just 1 minute and 34 seconds.
After this the latter retired from professional wrestling," Google wrote in the doodle description.
Hamida Banu was born into a family of wrestlers in the early 1900s near Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. She entered into wrestling at a time when women's participation in athletics was strongly discouraged by prevalent social norms.
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