| Kalaripayattu | |
|---|---|
| File:Valpayattu.jpg | |
| Indian Name | |
| Malayalam spelling | കളരിപ്പയറ്റ |
| Hindi spelling | |
| Details | |
| Origin | Kerala, South India |
| Styles | Northern, Southern and Central |
Kalarippayattu (Malayalam: കളരിപ്പയറ്റ്) is an Indian martial art practised in Kerala and contiguous parts of neighboring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.[1] It incorporates strikes, kicks, grappling, and weaponry, as well as healing techniques.[2] Some of its choreographed sparring can be applied to dance.[3]
In southern styles of kalarippayattu (practiced mainly in old Travancore and the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu)[4], practice and fighting techniques emphasize empty hands and application from the first lesson.[5] In the southern styles the stages of training are Chuvatu (solo forms), Jodi (partner training/sparring), Kurunthadi (short stick), Neduvadi, Katthi, Katara, valum parichayum, Chuttuval, double sword and Marmma and kalari grappling. The southern styles of kalarippayattu are decidedly Tamil[6] and for at least several hundred years have been practised primarily by Nadars, Kallars, Thevars,[7] and some Sambavar.[8]
Zarrilli refers to southern kalarippayattu as ati murai (the 'law of hitting') or varma ati (hitting the vital spots).[9] The preliminary empty-hand techniques of ati murai are known as Adithada (hit/defend).[10] Varma ati refers specifically to the application of these techniques to vital spots.[11] Weapons may include long staffs, short sticks, and the double deer horns.[12]. Southern styles of kalarippayattu are not practiced in special roofed pits but rather in the open air, or in an unroofed enclosure of palm branches.[13] Masters are known as asan rather than gurukkal.[14] The founder and patron saint is believed to be the rishi Agasthya rather than Parasurama.[15]
Medical treatment in southern styles of kalarippayattu—which does include massage—is identified with Dravidian Siddha medicine which is as sophisticated as—though distinct from—Ayurveda.[16] The Dravidian Siddha medical system is also known as Siddha Vaidyam and, like ati murai, is attributed to the rishi Agasthya. Active suppression of Nairs in southern Kerala led to the virtual extinction of their southern dronamballi sampradayam by the mid 1950s.[17]
See also
Template:Topics related to Kalarippayattu
- ^ Zarrilli, Phillip B. (1998). When the Body Becomes All Eyes: Paradigms, Discourses and Practices of Power in Kalarippayattu, a South Indian Martial Art. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- ^ Zarrilli 1998
- ^ Zarrilli 1998
- ^ Zarrilli 1998
- ^ Zarrilli 1998
- ^ Zarrilli 1998
- ^ Zarrilli 1992
- ^ Zarrilli 1998
- ^ Zarrilli 1998
- ^ Zarrilli 1998
- ^ Zarrilli 1998
- ^ Zarrilli 1992
- ^ Zarrilli 1998
- ^ Zarrilli 1998
- ^ Zarrilli 1998
- ^ Zarrilli 1992
- ^ Zarrilli 1998