A martial art legend
Mastering Kalaripayattu, Meenakshiamma has
broken many stereotypes
Though the traditional northern ballads (Vadakkanpaatukal) of Kerala hail the courage of Unniyarcha, warrior queen of yore, women Kalaripayattu practitioners are rare today. Meenakshiamma is one of the few who practise this ancient martial art, and her untiring efforts to preserve it have won national and international recognition.
At 77, she wakes at 4 a.m., takes a bath, says her prayers and starts cooking for the family. After 6 am, her young students stream into the hall of Kadathanadu Kalari, at her homestead in Vadakara, 60 km from Kozhikode. Meenakshiamma, with her sari tucked up, welcomes her disciples, their bodies glistening with oil, as they gather around a puja corner for the vandanam (invocation). As the class progresses, Amma, as the children call her, watches over her disciples, correcting them when they stumble.
After 8 a.m., when the classes end, there are patients waiting for marma treatment, a traditional healing massage that Kalari masters are experts at. It’s then back to housework for Amma. By evening, another 50 to 60 children arrive. She pulls on with help from her son Sajeev Gurukkal (master) and a disciple, Sajil Gurukkal. The rest of her time is taken up by public performances and visits to various Kalari schools. After receiving the Padma Shri in 2017, Meenakshiamma is much sought after for public programmes.
Why this renewed interest in Kalaripayattu? “Indeed, we all just need to live life the Kalari way so that other things then fall into place; there in the Kalari, we know what we are worth. Our worth is truly beyond our imagination, a reality that the Kalari and Amma help us realise,” Nidhi Sashi, a disciple from Chandigarh, says. One motivation is fitness and good health. In the Kalari, you can even see three- ear-old children working out for two hours — optimising physical and mental strength and getting charged with the vital energy of life.
There are more than a dozen Kalaris in Vadakara and neighbouring villages, the martial art that is helping society achieve peace and tranquility.
If Unniyarcha, warrior queen of yore in the northern ballads (Vadakkanpaatukal) of Kerala, mastered Kalaripayattu to protect her boundaries, Meenakshiamma has done so now to
protect the martial art.
Meenakshiamma is one of the very few women Kalaripayattu practitioners active today. Her untiring efforts have won national and international recognition for this martial art
Meenakshiamma is one of the very few women Kalaripayattu practitioners active today. Her untiring efforts have won national and international recognition for this martial art
At 77, she wakes up at 4 a.m., takes a bath, says her prayers and gets into the kitchen to cook for her family. As the clock ticks, children with bodies glistening with oil enter the hall of Kadathanadu Kalari in her homestead in Vadakara, 60 km from Kozhikode city.
Meenakshiamma, with her sari tucked up, welcomes her disciples. One by one, they gather around a puja corner, and she helps them do vandanam (invocation).
Meenakshiamma, with her sari tucked up, welcomes her disciples. One by one, they gather around a puja corner, and she helps them do vandanam (invocation).
From 6 a.m. to 8 a.m., she is busy with the classes, and then, there are patients waiting for Marma treatment, a traditional practice of medicine that Kalari masters engage in. It’s then back to housework for her.
By evening, another 50 to 60 children arrive. She pulls on with help from her son Sajeev Gurukkal (master) and disciple Sajil Gurukkal.
By evening, another 50 to 60 children arrive. She pulls on with help from her son Sajeev Gurukkal (master) and disciple Sajil Gurukkal.
The rest of her time is taken up by public performances and visits to various Kalari schools.
“In the Kalari, we know what we are worth of, and in reality, our worth is beyond our imagination — that the Kalari and Amma help us know,” Nidhi Sahsi from Chandigarh, a disciple, says.
“In the Kalari, we know what we are worth of, and in reality, our worth is beyond our imagination — that the Kalari and Amma help us know,” Nidhi Sahsi from Chandigarh, a disciple, says.
Slowly, the class picks up pace and Amma, as she is called by the children, watches over her disciples, correcting when they stumble.
One motivation is fitness and good health. In the Kalari, you can even see three-year-old children working out for two hours — optimising physical and mental strength and getting charged with the
vital energy of life.
One motivation is fitness and good health. In the Kalari, you can even see three-year-old children working out for two hours — optimising physical and mental strength and getting charged with the vital energy of life.
The discipline acquired by practicing the martial art regularly helps make people in society achieve peace and tranquility.
There are more than a dozen Kalaris in Vadakara and its neighbouring villages, and Meenakshi Amma’s Kadathanattu Kalari Sangham is one of those that still maintains the traditional value systems.
There are more than a dozen Kalaris in Vadakara and neighbouring villages, the martial art helping make society achieve peace and tranquillity.
