Karnataka State Kalaripayattu Championship held in Bangalore

BANGALORE: Karnataka State Kalaripayattu Championship, 2014 was held at Rangamandira Hall, National Games Village, Koramangala on June 14. The inaugural session was presided over by Sathyan Puthoor – President, Karanataka State Kalaripayattu Asscociation (KKA), and inaugurated by Advocate Poonthura Soman, Secretary General of Indian Kalarippayattu Federation. Hon Secretary of KKA Krishnaprathap and Vice President Ranjan Mullarat were also present.
Over 70 students from various Kalaris across Karanataka participated in the Championship. The Competition had 6 events namely, Maippayattu (exercises demonstrating control over the body), Chuvadukal (demonstrating offense and defense steps), Kaipooru (free hand fighting), Sword and Shield combat, Wielding Urumi (routine with flexible sword) and High Kick. There were individual events as well as team events drawing on participation from various Kalaris of Karnataka. This clearly indicates that this ancient martial art which evolved in Kerala is increasingly becoming popular in Karnataka. Many participants in the fierce and combative martial art were girls and women in the age group of 16-45 years.
The competition was divided into 3 categories: sub junior, junior, and senior. The event was power packed with performances from children, men and women belonging to various professions. Be it a 6 year old boy or mother-daughter duo as contestants, every one had an interesting story to share why they practice Kalaripayattu and what keeps them going. The competition witnessed spectacular individual and team performances.
The Rolling Championship Trophy was bagged by Parashurama Vallabhatta Kalari Academy, Bangalore and the runner-up was Kalari Gurukulam, Bangalore, followed by the Kadathanadan Kalari, Bangalore in the third place. Parashurama Vallabhatta Kalari Academy students swept the individual championships as well, with Aditya Pratap declared Sub-junior (boys) champion with 2 Gold Medals, Maithri Abhay declared Sub-junior (girls) champion with 2 Gold Medals, Prahlad Saldanha declared Junior (boys) champion with 6 Gold Medals, Meghana Reddy declared Junior (girls) champion with 4 Gold Medals and Umesh Narayan declared Senior (men's) champion with 3 Gold Medals. Chetana Ambalike Pruthviraj of Kalari Gurukulam was declared Senior (women's) champion with 2 Gold Medals.
The National Championship of Kalaripayattu will be held in Coimbatore shortly.