Kodi Rammurthy Naidu – The Indian Hercules!


Case-in-point: Max Hartmann of Heidelberg, Germany, who performed the “Human Link” feat with a pair of US Army jeeps at the Bamberg headquarters of the 85th Infantry Division. Hartmann used canvas straps and bath towels to hold the vehicles while the drivers spun the wheels in a futile effort to budge him. Hartmann requested only that the drivers let the clutch out slowly while he held the cars firmly in place. This was in 1957 but Hartmann performed the human link feat for many more years.
Gough performed feats of strength in carnivals, fairs and vaudeville houses all over the country. In addition to “traditional” strongman feats such as The Human Link, Nail Driving, and bar bending, Gough came up with many of his own including dangling from a rope tied to an airplane by his teeth, with a 50 pound weight in each hand, biting keys in half, and juggling a 300-pound anvil!
One of his many adventures was to perform feats of strength as publicity stunts for the Louisville, Kentucky-based Oertel Brewing Company which is the origin of the ‘Barrel’ barbell pictured here.
In 1983, a movie was made about his life. Today, a strength competition in his honor takes place in front of his old house at Mühltal Eisenberge and the winner receives the “Milo Barus Cup. Press clipping list Barus at seven feet tall, though it’s hard to tell by the photos if that is the case.