Daily Archives: April 9, 2018

Taekwondo champ sets Guinness World Records

Records, All, Sports, World Opinion
Vemuri V.S. Prasad holds the record for most full contact elbow strikes in one minute and most full contact knee strikes in three minutes.

Police officer Vemuri Prasad going from strength to strength

At 49, Vemuri V.S. Prasad is another Hyderabadi who has developed a fascination for Guiness World Records in taekwondo. This Senior Intelligence Officer in the Directorate of GST Intelligence (DGGI, Hyderabad) has set two new world records this year, which were ratified recently. He holds the record for most full contact elbow strikes in one minute (176) and most full contact knee strikes in three minutes (180).

Interestingly, Prasad, who is also an avid wildlife photographer, already has three World Records to his name, with the record for most full contact kicks in one hour by a team (20,494 in 2012), most full contact kicks in one hour by a team (37,161 in 2013) and largest taekwondo display with 979 participants (in 2014). He has never really dreamt it big in the sport – like chasing a medal in the Olympics.

“I have been into taekwondo for more than 25 years now. Thanks to grand master Jayanth Reddy, I am still able to pursue my passion at an age when many start thinking of post-retirement plans,” he says.

A black belt (dan-3), Prasad takes pride that his passion for the sport can be termed as an addiction.

Mr. Prasad is a silver medallist in the 2014 Senior National Open Club taekwondo championship (78-84 kg) in Delhi and has also won gold in successive years in the Karate Nationals between 1994-2000. What keeps him motivated to keep going? “It is just my passion for the sport. It gives me all the will power I look for in any aspect of life,” says the soft-spoken police officer.

Standing at an imposing 6’ 3”, he now aims to set a few more world records like most split kicks in one minute (current record is 30) and in spiderman knuckle push-ups (current record is 56 per minute).

“Yes, I am preparing for the international taekwondo champonship this year, but only to have a critical evaluation of where I stand among the best and not to prove a point or two,” he said, signing off the other ‘V.V.S.’ from the City.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Telangana / by V.V. Subrahmanyam / Hyderabad – April 05th, 2018

Rare sculpture of Rudrama Devi’s ‘last’ battle discovered

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Records, All, Travel
The sculpture showing Kakatiya warrior queen Rudrama Devi in combat with her subordinate chief Kayastha King Ambadeva.

It provides crucial information on the death of warrior queen

A sculptural slab carved in granite that has a life-size portrait of Kakatiya warrior queen Rudrama Devi was discovered by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in the sanctum sanctorum of Trikuta temple at Bekkallu village in Siddipet district.

Stating that the discovery has unravelled the mystery of her death, the officials said Rudrama Devi was killed during a war by her own subordinate chief Kayastha King Ambadeva somewhere near Warangal.

During an extensive exploration survey to ascertain the antiquity and architectural ascendancy of ancient shrines that flourished under the celebrated regime of Kakatiyas (11th to 13th century) in both the Telugu States, D. Kanna Babu, Superintending Archaeologist, Temple Survey Project (Southern Region), ASI Chennai, discovered the sculptural slab in which the portrait of Rudrama Devi is carved, a week ago.

“The discovery of the portrait sculpture is a first of its kind that displays a fierce fighting scene between Rudrama Devi and Ambadeva and it stands as a supporting evidence to the recent findings in Telangana,” Mr. Babu said. He said the uniqueness of the sculpture was that it vividly shows Rudrama Devi (A.D. 1262-1289) as a commanding and imperial personality with characteristic gesticulations of a ferocious warrior. “It might answer all the questions and doubts that the historians and archaeologists had about her death since decades. Thanks to the unknown sculptor who left a credible source for us to reconstruct the life history of the queen, particularly her end,” he said.

He said the sculptured panel in a rectangular frame superbly represents the imperial personality of Rudrama Devi who is riding a horse with a sword in her right hand while her left hand holds the reigns.

Describing the sculpture, Mr. Babu said the queen’s arms and wrists are embellished with warrior shields. “She is wearing robes of a male warrior with a waist belt and has her left leg over the hanging pedal while a shield is securing her chest,” he explained.

Ambadeva, the rebellion sub-ordinate chief, is in his war robes with a tightly-fixed lower garment, a waist belt and arm guards.

“He escaped the blows of Rudrama Devi and overpowered the horse and harmed it. The horse falls on its face and Rudrama Devi is surprised of his sudden action of rebel. Finally, Ambadeva kills her and she attains viraswargam,” he said.

The patron and artisan who carved the sculpture acted with far-sightedness who thought that these would serve as commemorative visual aids on Rudrama Devi for her successive generations, he said and added that the queen’s domestic help must have carved the sculpture.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Abhinay Deshpande / Hyderabad – April 08th, 2018