Gada

The gada is a mallet or blunt mace from the Indian subcontinent, made of wood or metal, with a spherical or spiked head fixed to a shaft; one surviving 17th-century Indo-Persian example is made of steel and gold and measures 26.5 inches (67 centimeters). Its use spread from the Indian subcontinent into Southeast Asia, where practitioners of silat martial arts still train with it today. The weapon carries deep religious weight in Hindu tradition as the signature weapon of the god Hanuman, venerated by wrestlers across the region, and of Vishnu, whose gada is named Kaumodaki; the epic Mahabharata names several legendary warriors, including Bhima and Duryodhana, as masters of the gada.