Martin Purwa
Encyclopedia
Martin Purwa is a village in the city of Lucknow
in the state of Uttar Pradesh
, India
. The village has a population of around 4,000. Martin Purwa is part of the La Martiniere College
estate. Its previous name was 'Luckperra'.
It is named after Claude Martin
, the eighteenth-century French adventurer and philanthropist, who served both the East India Company and the Nawab Asaf-Ud-Dowlah
of Oudh.
The village was originally inhabited by the staff of Claude Martin and it provided labour and other services to the La Martiniere School. The hereditary daroga (superintendent) of the La Martiniere estate still has a house in the village.
Martin Purwa has benefited from its close proximity to the Lucknow Golf Club and has produced so many good golfers that it is known locally as the 'nursery of golf'. The inhabitants of the village don't recall precisely when their association with the game began. According to village folklore a gora sahib (white man) was walking through the village one day with his retinue, and was puzzled to see some boys playing a game with curved sticks and wooden balls which they hit towards holes. The gentlemen was apparently so impressed by their game that he asked some of the older children to follow him to the golf club and work as caddies, a tradition which has continued ever since. Some of the village boys have since gone on to play the game professionally and a number have enjoyed success at a national level.
Nearly 60 villagers of Martin Purwa make their living from golf, and the local boys continue to work at the club as caddies.
The Lucknow Golf Club acknowledged Martin Purwa's contribution to the game by opening up a school for the village children in 1998.
Lucknow
Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....
in the state of Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
, 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...
. The village has a population of around 4,000. Martin Purwa is part of the La Martiniere College
La Martiniere Lucknow
La Martinière College is an educational institution located in Lucknow, the capital of the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh. The college consists of two schools on different campuses for boys and girls. La Martinière Boys' College was founded in 1845 and La Martinière Girls' College was established...
estate. Its previous name was 'Luckperra'.
It is named after Claude Martin
Claude Martin
Major General Claude Martin was an officer in the French, and later the British, army in India. He rose to the position of Major General in the British East India Company...
, the eighteenth-century French adventurer and philanthropist, who served both the East India Company and the Nawab Asaf-Ud-Dowlah
Asaf-Ud-Dowlah
Asaf-Ud-Daula was the nawab wazir of Oudh from 26 January 1775 to 21 September 1797, and the son of Shuja-ud-Dowlah, his mother and grandmother being the begums of Oudh, whose spoliation formed one of the chief counts in the charges against Warren Hastings.-Life:A contemporary chronicler describes...
of Oudh.
The village was originally inhabited by the staff of Claude Martin and it provided labour and other services to the La Martiniere School. The hereditary daroga (superintendent) of the La Martiniere estate still has a house in the village.
Martin Purwa has benefited from its close proximity to the Lucknow Golf Club and has produced so many good golfers that it is known locally as the 'nursery of golf'. The inhabitants of the village don't recall precisely when their association with the game began. According to village folklore a gora sahib (white man) was walking through the village one day with his retinue, and was puzzled to see some boys playing a game with curved sticks and wooden balls which they hit towards holes. The gentlemen was apparently so impressed by their game that he asked some of the older children to follow him to the golf club and work as caddies, a tradition which has continued ever since. Some of the village boys have since gone on to play the game professionally and a number have enjoyed success at a national level.
Nearly 60 villagers of Martin Purwa make their living from golf, and the local boys continue to work at the club as caddies.
The Lucknow Golf Club acknowledged Martin Purwa's contribution to the game by opening up a school for the village children in 1998.
Notable residents
- Raj Kumar, a caddie who became a national player.
- Vijay Kumar, India's number one golfer, also worked as a caddie at the golf club. He was the first Indian professional to earn one million rupees.
- Hari Ram, a national player and coach