Kalarippayattu: Encyclopedia II - Kalarippayattu - History of Kalaripayattu

Kalarippayattu - History of Kalaripayattu

The earliest reference to kalarippayattu occurs in A Description of the Coasts of East Africa and Malabar in the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century CE by Duarte Barbosa, indicating that kalarippayattu had already developed by this time.

Phillip B. Zarrilli, University of Exeter professor and one of the few Western authorities on kalaripayattu, estimates that kalarippayattu dates back to at least the 12th century CE.[1]

The historian Elamkulam Kunjan Pillai hypothesizes that kalarippayattu was a product of the battles between the Cheras and the Cholas during the 11th century CE. This theory was reiterated by later writers without question. Today, as the concept of the war has been questioned and rejected, the theory of the origin of Kalari during this war has lost its ground.

As stated earlier, the oldest suggested existence of Kalaripayattu date back to the 13th century CE. The earliest recorded evidence of Kalaripayyattu date from Portuguese descriptions during the latter 16th-17th centuries and becoming less prominent after the British outlawed it during the 18th and 19th centuries CE. It has recently been reinvigorated in the last few decades due to the general worldwide interest in martial arts.

There have been recent theories attempting to connect kalaripayattu with Shaolin Kung Fu through the legend of Bodhidharma, considered in Shaolin mythology as the founder of the Shaolin temple. This is not accepted by contemporary historians as the legends of Bodhidharma are conflicting and evidence exists for the existence of martial arts in the Buddhist temples in China prior to the purported arrival of Bodhidharma. For information on these disputes please read the article 'Disputed history of Kalarippayattu'

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History of Kalaripayattu", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki