KIRKPINAR
THE MAN
The Pehlivan is a turkish oil wrestler, part of a cultural phenomenon dating back to the year 1360. The kirkpinar oil wrestling festival is the oldest sports competition in the world, celebrated every year in the turkish city, Edirne. Hundreds of men, dressed in leather trousers and covered in olive oil fight on a large grass field under the burning sun. They compete for fame, the Kirkpinar golden belt and the title chief Pehlivan. Each fighter wears a kispet, the traditional cowhide trousers that go from the waist to below the knees. The writing in metal studs on the back indicates his name, hometown or sponsoring club. Before the matches begin, the Pehlivans oil up their bodies with a mixture of olive oil and water so that they can endure the heat of the day in a match which was fought without a time limit until modern times.
THE FIGHT
A fight is often won by one of the wrestlers putting his arm far down his opponent’s trousers gaining full control of the other man; a common and legitimate move in turkish oil wrestling. once your belly button is facing the sun, you have lost the fight and you must leave the tournament. According to the legend, the origins of Kirkpinar dates back to the 14th century and the ottoman empire. Forty Ottoman soldiers came upon a meadow and settled for a rest. The soldiers were bored and in need of diversion, so they began wrestling. Two of the men fought through the night, and both died in the midst of the competition, neither having emerged victoriously. In the morning, their companions found that the two had died from exhaustion. They buried the wrestlers in the meadow and left.
One year later, when the soldiers came back to pay their respects, forty springs had appeared just where the two graves had been. The legend of Kirkpinar (forty springs) allegedly gave its name to the annual oil wrestling championship that has been organized in edirne ever since.
Words by Rune Skyum
