Check out Vishnu’s peaceful sleep. His eyes are gently closed and looks like he is thoroughly enjoying his sleep. There are two demons on the right trying to create trouble, but Vishnu’s attendants on top are ready to stop the demons. Adi Sesa the snake, is at work providing Sthiram and Sukham. I love this sculpture. (more…)
Sound advice!
A lot of Kalari sequences look like a combination of dance and yoga. The first video is called Poothra Thozhuthal. This is one of the beginning sequences taught in Kalaripayattu. (more…)
India holds about 60% of the total Asian elephants of the world. Of these, the largest populations are found in south India. Of these, some are domesticated to be used in temple festivals. The other domesticated elephants work as tourist elephants, to transport timber, by forest department rangers, and in circus. (more…)
I have been using the stick figures for a while, when I want to come up with a pratice session. I was very impressed with this when I learnt it during the teacher training in San Francisco. I have had so much fun drawing these figures.
Little did I know that it was TKV Desikachar, who came up with this concept. He was a civil engineer by training and he took up Yoga after his college. When he started depciting asanas using stick figures, many people had told him it was not going to work as people would not understand it. Desikachar was not deterred. He continued to use it and kept trying to perfect it. He felt strongly that this was an efficient way to illustrate and easier to comprehend, instead of explaining the asana in words. He was familiar with the power of working with visual aids from his years as an engineer. (more…)
I am staying at a Yoga ashram in India, as it was close to the place I was traveling. I meet a lot of yogis here in the ashram. 90% of them are from Europe and America (as in continent) and the rest from India. After talking to many people, I get a feeling that a good percentage of the people are simply using Yoga to escape from the actual responsibilities of life. There is nothing wrong with taking a break to practice Yoga. But, I keep hearing the same stories being repeated.
can’t hold onto a job and decided to quit
giving up smoking
don’t know what I should be doing
wanted to meet new people
fascinated by all things Hindu, especially chanting
I saw this temple on the way from Trivandrum to Kovalam. This is the first time I came across a temple dedicated to Parasurama. This is an interesting small temple. One of the smaller sub temples within the main one had a fish as the god. I had not seen a fish before as a deity. It could be the deity representing the first avatar of Vishnu, Matsya avatar that rescued the Veda, plants and animals. When I walked around the temple, I noticed there were a lot of soap boxes tied with a string and hanging from the ceiling. I guess the soap boxes contain written prayers or wishes to be fulfilled by Parasurama.
Parasurama, is the axe wielding sixth avatar of Vishnu. Although he is an avatar of Vishnu, he is not worshiped like Rama or Krishna. I guess Kerala would be an exception. According to Kerala legends, he is the creator of Kerala and Kalaripayattu. He created Kerala by throwing his axe into the ocean from Gokarnam to Kanyakumari. The water receded up to the spot where it fell. This new land is said to be Kerala or Parasuramakshetram.
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.
I am witnessing the 6.30 am class at CVN Kalari, Thiruvananthapuram. Kalaripayyattu is one of the martial arts from the state of Kerala aka God’s own country. The boys are wearing langhottis (loin cloth), oiled, look shiny, lean and mean like black panthers. The lamps have been lit by the gurukkal, the deities and the sword have been decorated with flowers and the students have offered their pooja. The place, the students, their outfits and the gurukkal make me feel like I have gone back to ancient times. The floor is made of red mud, there are lots of weapons like sticks, sheilds, swords, spears, wooden daggers arranged neatly against a wall.
The gurukkal has asked the students to start the warm up in malayalam. I notice that he is already criticizing some students to put in more energy in those legs, kaal kondhanum mone. The warm ups themselves look spectacular, with students having to kick the leg so high up while walking that it should touch the shoulder. Like a military parade, but the leg goes all the way up, like a standing splits. That is the aim and most students look very close to doing it.
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