Kerala   

Exhibition of Kalari arms a big draw

MALAPPURAM: An exhibition of arms from the past is on at Tirunavaya in Malappuram district. The two-day show is being held as part of the Kalari Fest 2008 organised jointly by the State Youth Affairs Department, Kerala Kalarippayattu Association and Malappuram District Sports Council on Monday and Tuesday on the banks of the Bharatapuzha.

On display is everything one associates with Kalarippayattu, the traditional martial art form of the State. From the simple three-span stick to the dangerous ‘urumi,’ almost all arms of Kalarippayattu Keralites have heard of are displayed by the Sree Narayana Guru Memorial Vallabhatta Kalari Sangham, Chavakkad.

Among the curious fans of Kalari taking a close look at the exhibits was Hiroo Komine, a Japanese student currently undergoing training under Unni Gurukkal of Vallabhatta Kalari. But the arms on display found little charm for Hiroo, who looks at Kalari as a means of finding integration of body and mind.

Hiroo has been studying Kalari for two years as a complement to the Ayurveda degree he had from a university in Gujarat. What attracted him to Kalari is the neuro-biological aspects of the martial art. “Here the way you use your body reflects your sub-consciousness,” he says.

Kalari, he says, is more relevant today as society tends to underestimate the physical preferences. “I want to learn Kalari as much as I can,” says Hiroo.

But Hiroo was a novice among the veterans who gathered on the banks of the Nila for the festival. A large number of people, irrespective of their interest in the martial art form, however, had a glimpse of the exhibits.

The photographs of Thacholi House and Lokanarkavu were there for the hardcore Kalari lovers. For the modern generation, the exhibition made clear how the Kalari ‘churika’ differed from the swords used by various warriors.

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