Kalaripayattu - The Orient's treasure trove, a gift to the modern world and the mother of all martial arts. Legend traces the 3000-year-old art form to Sage Parasurama- the master of all martial art forms and credited to be the re-claimer of Kerala from the Arabian Sea. Kalaripayattu originated in ancient South India. Kung- fu, popularized by the monks of the Shoaling Temple traces its ancestry to Bodhi Dharma - an Indian Buddhist monk and Kalaripayattu master.
Kalari is the Malayalam word, for a special kind of Gymnasium, where the martial art known as Kalarippayattu , a martial art of Kerala, is practiced. Kalari, literally means threshing floor or battlefield, is a specially constructed practice area.
Every Kalari has a Poothara (meaning "platform where flowers are kept" in the Malayalam language). It's a seven tiered platform placed in the south-west corner of every Kalari, housing the guardian deity of the Kalari. The seven tiers symbolise the seven abilities that each person must possess: Vignesva (strength), Channiga (patience), Vishnu (power to command), Vadugashcha (the posture), Tadaguru (training), Kali (the expression) and Vakasta - purushu (sound). Other deities, most of them incarnations of the Bhagavathi or Shiva, are installed in the corners. Flowers, incense and water are offered to the deity every day. Before starting the day's practice, it is the norm for practitioners to pray to the deity. Not only is the Kalari a temple of learning, but it is also a temple of religious worship with a cult and ritual of its own.
Kalari is the Malayalam word, for a special kind of Gymnasium, where the martial art known as Kalarippayattu , a martial art of Kerala, is practiced. Kalari, literally means threshing floor or battlefield, is a specially constructed practice area.
Every Kalari has a Poothara (meaning "platform where flowers are kept" in the Malayalam language). It's a seven tiered platform placed in the south-west corner of every Kalari, housing the guardian deity of the Kalari. The seven tiers symbolise the seven abilities that each person must possess: Vignesva (strength), Channiga (patience), Vishnu (power to command), Vadugashcha (the posture), Tadaguru (training), Kali (the expression) and Vakasta - purushu (sound). Other deities, most of them incarnations of the Bhagavathi or Shiva, are installed in the corners. Flowers, incense and water are offered to the deity every day. Before starting the day's practice, it is the norm for practitioners to pray to the deity. Not only is the Kalari a temple of learning, but it is also a temple of religious worship with a cult and ritual of its own.
