I have been reading up about Kalaripayattu from the book called ‘when the body becomes all eyes’ by Phillip B. Zarrilli. I thought the title was tacky but then I read that it is a literal translation of a Malayalam phrase meyyu kannakuka like Lord Brahma, the thousand eyed. I do not like this book as there is no flow in the way it is structured. I bought it as this was the only book that I found on Kalaripayattu and has some historical tidbits. This post is mainly sourced from this book.
Kalaripayattu is derived from two major traditions, Tamil traditions dating from the early sangham culture and the Sanskrit Dhanur Veda traditions. Although Dhanur Veda means science of archery, it encompasses all martial arts. Indian epics Mahabharata and Ramayana follow Dhanur Veda for the specifics of combat and warfare. Although many martial arts and a form similar to Kalaripayattu have been practised since ancient times in India, Kalaripayattu as a form primarily to Kerala is said to have been established during the eleventh or twelfth century AD. This style of Kalaripayattu is also practised in adjacent Tulu speaking Coorg district of Karnataka.
In Malayalam kalari refers to the special place where martial exercises are taught. Paytukka means ‘learn, to exercise in arms, practice’. Specific exercises performed in a kalari are meipayattu, which is the body exercise, kuntam payattu is the spear fight, val payattu is the sword fight and many others.
Sage Parasurama, an avatar of Vishnu, is believed to be the founder of the art and the first kalari. He is also the one to have created Kerala. The system of treatment and the massage of Kalaripayattu is closely associated with Ayurveda. There are quite a few styles and lineages of practice as these are family traditions. All these families have instructions written on palm leaves and these are guarded secrets. All of them have common elements, where the preliminary techniques of body exercise, meippayattu which when combined with seasonal full body massage and application of oils, prepare the practioner’s body and mind for advanced practice and fighting.
Practising at advanced levels with combat weapons was an exclusive right and privilege designated to serve a ruler or master. This duty was associated with specic subgroups of castes and it involved fighting in duels,disputes to the death, as Chavarpada has observed on my previous post. Some castes of hindus, muslims and christians were selected to train to be kalari warriors.
Kalaripayattu lost its popularity once the firearms were introduced. I also read on the internet that the British did not allow this practice and hence it was practiced secretly. Not sure how true that information is. Back to the current times, Kalaripayat had to compete with other martial arts like karate. In Kalaripayat, it takes a while before the student will be introduced to fighting and weapon training. In karate and other martial arts, the student gets to learn the self defence tactics in the first class. Kalaripayat takes it own time before such an act. The students that are impatient to learn the self defence and fighting switch to the others. But even so, Kalaripayattu has its followers who see meaning in taking it slow and steady.
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