Maha Singh Rao is a wrestler and wrestling coach from Chirawa

Chirawa

Chirawa is a town in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan in India. It is part of Shekhawati region. It is known for fresco-painted havelis.-Geography:Chirawa is located at . It has an average elevation of...

, Rajasthan

Rajasthan

Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...

 in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. In 2006, he was awarded the Dronacharya Award

Dronacharya Award

Dronacharya Award is an award presented by the government of India for excellence in sports coaching. The award comprises a bronze statuette of Dronacharya, a scroll of honour and a cash component of Rs.500,000...

, the highest award of the land in the field of coaching of sports and athletics, by the government of India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

.

Early life

He was the fourth son out of a family of 6 children born to Bhana Ram and Mohri devi in a small village Ghardana Khurd in Jhunjhunu Rajasthan

Rajasthan

Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...

. After attaining his primary education in the same village he proceeded on to high school in Khetri

Khetri

Khetri Nagar is a town in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan in India. It is part of Shekhawati region. Khetri is actually two towns, the first "Khetri Town" was founded by Raja Khet Singhji Nirwan. The other is the town of "Khetri Nagar", which is about 10 km away from Khetri. It is known for...

 and then graduated in Mathematics from Chirawa college, Chirawa in Jhunjhunu

Jhunjhunu

Jhunjhunu is a town in the state of Rajasthan in India, and the administrative headquarters of Jhunjhunu District. It is located a 180 km from Jaipur and 245 km from Delhi. The town is famous for the frescos on its grand Havelis, a special artistic feature of this region.- Etymology...

 in 1980. His marriage was solemnised to Mrs Santosh on 15 June 1983.

Though he was lured to wrestling from the very childhood, his parents asked him to continue studies. Abiding by his parents advice he went on to get his Masters in Economics during 1981 to 1984 from Rajasthan University, Jaipur

Jaipur

Jaipur , also popularly known as the Pink City, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Founded on 18 November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, the city today has a population of more than 3.1 million....

. In 1985 he moved to the nearby Chirawa town and settled there. Pressed by his interest in wrestling he simultaneously kept practicing lest he should lose touch with the sport. Meanwhile he obtained a diploma in wrestling from the national institute of sports in 1982-83. Until then he was a national level wrestler in the country representing the state of Rajasthan but later jumped on to training pehlwani

Pehlwani

Pehlwani or Pahlavani or Kushti is a Persian style of wrestling popular in Iran, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. It was developed in the Mughal era through a synthesis of Indian malla-yuddha and Persian Varzesh-e Bastani....

.

Career

After finishing his studies he joined the Sports Authority of India as a Wrestling Coach. He started training disciples in both freestyle wrestling and Indian style also known as pehlwani

Pehlwani

Pehlwani or Pahlavani or Kushti is a Persian style of wrestling popular in Iran, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. It was developed in the Mughal era through a synthesis of Indian malla-yuddha and Persian Varzesh-e Bastani....

. His initial posting was in Guru Hanuman Akhara in New Delhi which was at that time being managed by Guru Hanuman

Guru Hanuman

Guru Hanuman was a legendary wrestling coach of India who coached many medal-winning wrestlers. He was awarded the prestigious Dronacharya Award in 1987, the highest recognition for a sports coach in India, and the Padma Shri in 1983.-Early life:Guru was born as Vijay Pal on 15 March 1930, in...

, a legendary figure in the Indian style of wrestling. Maha Singh started training the budding pehlwans under the able guidance of Guru Hanuman. He was briefly transferred to Ganganagar, Rajasthan but soon was sent back to Delhi where he is currently training wrestlers in the Guru Hanuman Akhara in New Delhi

New Delhi

New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...

. After the demise of Guru Hanuman in May 1999 the whole responsibility of managing and training the young wrestlers came down on Maha singh.

Recognising his potential he was sent by the Government of India to attend the international coaching course in Budapest, Hungary in 2005. The course is conducted by the Universitas Budapestinesis de semmelweis nominata and is recognised by the international Olympic council for Olympic solidarity. Later he was selected for the prestigious Dronacharya Award for the year 2005.
Many of his disciples have won national and international titles including the prestigious Arjun Award. Notables include Sandeep kumar Rathi (Bharat Kesri), Rajiv Tomar

Rajiv Tomar

Rajiv Tomar is an Indian wrestler. He represented India in the men's freestyle 120 kg category at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, but lost to Steve Mocco of United States in qualifications.He is from Malakpur in Baraut district in Uttar Pradesh....

 (Hind Kesri), Anuj Chaudhary (Arjun Award Winner), Sujeet maan (Arjun Award Winner). Rajiv Tomar won the gold medal in the commonwealth games in 2006.