About kalaripayatt

Kalaripayatt the ancient martial art from the gods own country or Parashurama Kshetra. The word Kalaripayatt, 'KALARI' means the enemy of all Bad, be it inside or outside of human body or in nature. 'PAYATT' means the practice, which when done regularly under certain conditions increases energy, peace, power, and good health. It also makes the mind sharp and concentrated.


Introduction of Kalaripayatt
Kalaripayatt or Kalaripayattu is one of the richest practice for the human health as body exercise and is a martial art, originated from the God's own country i.e Bhargava Kshetra now called Kerala by the sage Parashurama who is believed as incarnation of god Vishnu.
The word Kerala can also divide into two i.e KERA means coconut and ILLAM means land, in ancient days, A land of coconut.Kerala was covered by thick forests, mountains and water.Wild animals used to attack people. To protect themselves from animals man started to learn different techniques of fighting by watching birds, reptiles and animals. Thus evolved the self-defence technique Kalaripayatt. It is believed one of Lord Vishnu's incarnation PARASHURAMA united all the techniques observing from nature and presented to humans for their self protection from all kinds of enemies in nature. As the population of man increased, they started to fight with each other using these techniques for food, land and wealth. Kalaripayatt was practiced since ages for self defense and as a good exercise for health. Nowadays you can see different styles in Kalaripayatt such as (Vadakkan Shaily) Northern style, (Thekkan Shaily) Southern style.
Ancient form & New forms
During ancient days there were two forms of Kalari practice. They were known as Kadathunadan and Tulunadan. Both styles were from North Kerala. Starting from the 18th century Kalaripayatt was banned by the British for nearly 15 decades. It was kept alive by families who passed the knowledge from generation to generation and practiced Kalari in secret. After India regained its independence Kalari once more started to regain its fame and is now openly practiced in its original form. The two now known practising styles are called Vadakkan (Northern) Kalari and Thekkan (Southern) Kalari. In some parts of Kerala you can see Madhya Kerala(Central) style of Kalari also.

Starting with some Hindu rituals and prayers kalaripayatt combines with flexibility exercise with some parts of the body and later involves entire body movements. Kalaripayatt makes the practioner to be light weight and builds him strong with flexibility and also keeps away from diseases. Regular practice of kalaripayatt will bring concentration ,good memory and great reflection in the body.

After achieving a balance with flexibility student will be trained with some self-defence technique with bare hand and also with the weapons of wooden and metal. Later a student will be studying about human anatomy and also will be thought the usage of herbal medicines called Ayurveda and their treatments.

Construction of Kalari
There are three types of Kalari which can be distinguished by the Teaching, Dimension and Construction of Kalari and the type of practice it is used for.
1. Kalai Kalari : In this Kalari the arts like Dance, Dramas, Music etc.will be taught for the students.
2. Poo Kalari : In this Kalari , Exercises for Health, Education, Some of the Self Defense techniques, Ayurveda, Jyotish, Tantra, Mantra,Vasthu etc. will be taught for the students.
3. Anga Kalari :In this Kalari the War techniques and War ideas were taught for the students. Now a days it can be rarely met
Moreover, according to place of construction we can construct:
MELKALARI : - a Kalari that will be constructed on the surface
KUZHIKALARI:-A kalari that will be constructed in a pit