Studies in Interreligious Dialogue 20 (2010) 1

D.H. LUIJENDIJK

THE INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE OF MARTIAL ARTS IN KERALA

Introduction The South Indian state of Kerala is home to several religions. Although Hin- duism is the religion of the majority, Islam and Christianity are very large mi- norities. The official website of the Indian government displaying the results of the latest census taken in 2001 gives the following information regarding the different religions of Kerala (the numbers are in percentages of the total population): Hindus 56.2%, Muslims 24.7%, Christians 19.0%. Comparing this to India as a whole (Hindus 80.5%, Muslims 13.4%, Christians 2.3%) the minority religions constitute a substantially larger share of the total population in Kerala than in India in its totality.1 This means that the minority religions may have a strong influence on the culture, economy, and politics of Kerala.

I noticed during my stays in Kerala—I stayed mainly in the Malabar area— that many of the people who belong to a particular religion usually live within their particular religious society: in Malabar a Muslim eats in a Muslim restaurant, works for a Muslim employer, and most of his or her friends will be Muslim. The same can be said for Hindus. This attitude can create a divided society. In my perception, Kerala’s society has a more or less (depending on the area where one is) vertical separation into “pillars,” representing the religious background of the people.

Another division may be caused by political preference: I have noticed that the political climate can be quite explosive. During the few years I lived in Malabar, there was a one-day public transport strike at least once every month. This meant not only that public transport did not work but also that private means of transportation were not allowed on the streets and roads. Any vehicle found on the road would be forced to stop by the locals. The strikes were well organized by political parties or groups who wanted to pro- test certain measures of the local, state, or national government. Several times the strikes I witnessed would be protests against the murder of a politician

1 www.censusindia.net; results of the 2001 census can also be found at www. educationforallinindia.com/page139.html.

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(usually in Kerala). During my stays in Kerala, this was frequently the cause of strikes. I remember that a politician was murdered in 1997 with a small sword. That politics is a hot issue is further evidenced by the fact that I saw communist monuments in every city and village I visited, even in remote are- as. Every now and then I also witnessed communist marches in which hun- dreds of people participated.

However, even though Kerala society suffers from division into religious and political “blocks’,” in the midst of all religious and political contrasts there are some institutions where religious or political background is unimportant. Examples of such places are schools in which people take lessons in Kalarip- payat. Kalarippayat is a system and method of fighting that is believed to be indigenous to the South Indian state of Kerala. It is taught in a so-called kalari, a kind of gym. The person who owns the kalari and whose job it is to teach in that kalari is called a gurukkal. Kalarippayat was traditionally practiced only among certain castes (Zarrilli 1998: 25-29). Nowadays there are many kalaris that accept any student, regardless of background or gender (Luijendijk 2008 : 205).

In this article I want to show how such organizations like kalaris contribute to interreligious dialogue in Kerala and how these place function as a “glue” between the people of that state. To do so, I will first focus on one particular kalari, the Kerala Kalarippayat Academy (KKA), situated in Puttiyateru in Mal- abar, with its teacher or gurukkal C.M. Sherif, to whom I will refer below as the “KKA teacher.” Then, using the concept of religion formulated by Ninian Smart, I will show how interreligious dialogue is advocated within this kalari. I will subsequently try to understand the KKA kalari in a broader context and show that there are other Kalarippayat schools that, like the KKA kalari, accept students irrespective of their background. Third, I want to show that this idea is not unique to Kalarippayat but appears to be a common pattern among certain institutions in Kerala. Finally, I will analyze the results of these three points via Victor Turner’s schema for describing the process of conflict.

As data collection methods I used participant observation, other observations, sources of published material, and publications from the Kerala government. The participant observation and observations were done during three periods: January 1996-March 1998; July 1999-September 1999; December 2002-Feb- ruary 2003. The material obtained consisted of teachings, interviews, film, and photographs.

Although there is, not much published material, I would like to mention in particular Philip Zarrilli’s When the Body Becomes Eyes: Paradigms, Dis- courses and Practices of Power in Kalarippayattu, a South Indian Martial

25 STUDIES IN INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE 20 (2010) 1

Art, and my own Kalarippayat: The Structure and Essence of an Indian Mar- tial Art, and some Indian writers on the history of Kerala. Regarding the information offered by the government of Kerala, these are available through their website but also via their support of sports and cultural events, where their point of view is usually advertised.

KKA Kalarippayat The central person in the kalari is the gurukkal. After conducting my field research for some months, I realized that, without a teacher, there is no kalari. The members of the KKA kalari considered the gurukkal in general to be the embodiment of his kalari and the martial system taught in that kalari. More- over, the KKA teacher told me that the gurukkal represented all the teachers prior to the present gurukkal, starting with the gurukkal’s own teacher. Ac- cording to the KKA teacher, this “martial lineage”2 was rooted in a divine origin, meaning that the art had been given directly to humans by that divine source. In the KKA kalari this divine source was not predefined: as a multi- religious kalari the name given to that divine was left to the choice of the practitioner. As a Muslim, the KKA teacher saw Allah as the ultimate source, whom he equated with the Supreme Being of every religion. For him, as he told me frequently, the different religions were simply different ways to ap- proach that divine, and one could not say which way was right and which was wrong; the choice of religion depended on the character and personality of the person in question.3

For the KKA gurukkal Kalarippayat is a form of knowledge obtained directly from the divine and, because of that, it cannot be transmitted to each and every person: not everybody can be accepted for training in the kalari. I noticed that it was up to the gurukkal to decide who would be accepted and who not.

2 I will use the term “martial lineage” when referring to one or more martial sys- tems handed down from teacher to a student who, after having become a teacher himself, will also pass on this knowledge to his students, and so on. A kind of filiation in the martial art is thus created. 3 The different cultures of India have often been influenced by the introduction of foreign religions. An example is the absorption of Islam into Indian culture. There is an influence of Kalarippayat on Islam as well: ideas based on local non-Islamic religious traditions connected to Kalarippayat have been accepted by the KKA gurukkal, who is a Muslim. Nowadays there are many different interpretations of Islam, Hinduism, Chris- tianity, and other religions in India, coloured by and absorbed into local culture. Unfor- tunately, several of these religious traditions became hostile towards other religious traditions. This causes frictions within and, to a certain extent, fragmentation of Indian society.

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The kalari (gym) of the KKA is built in (what the KKA teacher considers to be) a “traditional” way: a rectangular building with a roof of palm leaves. The building is erected over a pit in which the training takes place. Its walls are constructed partly of clay and mud and partly of palm leaves. A few steps lead the practitioner down into the pit. Six days a week, all the students enter the kalari one by one when the training starts, early in the morning at around 7 o’clock. The training usually continues until 11 o’clock in the morning. The practitioners perform their exercises wearing a langutti, a white piece of cloth knotted around the waist, which is used as underwear by many Indians.

For me, the most striking thing all the practitioners did was that, before starting the exercises, they went to one of the corners of the kalari, where there was a structure made of mud. The base of this construction was a quarter of a circle. Seven steps of mud tapered off to a single point. An oil lamp was burning immediately in front of this muddy heap. It created the impression of a kind of an altar. This impression was reinforced by the fact that all the practitioners would stand in silence in front of it for a few moments, then touch the floor, their foreheads, and their hearts. One of the senior students, Soman, told me it was actually an altar, called puttara. It symbolized the home of the kalari goddess overseeing the kalari. But it was not only an altar. According to Soman, it stood for a way of life, which was intended to develop one’s mind and spirit until they had become ready to unite with “God,”4 whom he saw as the very source and engine of creation. The seven steps of the puttara represented the seven stages of this self-development, and the tip of the altar stood for the ultimate union of a human being with his Maker.

That same evening I had a conversation with the KKA teacher about this. He was a devout Muslim, and he confirmed Soman’s story, but from an Islamic point of view: he told me that Kalarippayat can be used as a way to find Al- lah. He stressed that Muslim rules for living, such as the traditional prayer (namaz), should be obeyed as well. Each Kalarippayat practitioner should follow his or her own faith in addition to the practice of Kalarippayat. For Soman and the KKA teacher at least, Kalarippayat was a way of life in its own right, especially since it allows for the integration of their religious traditions. According to them, it was a means of mental and spiritual self-development that ultimately helped to unite them with “God.”

4 I have put the word “God” between quotation marks when I intend the term to express what is considered to be a “central divine being” from the point of view of a specific individual.

27 STUDIES IN INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE 20 (2010) 1

In contrast to these statements, the KKA teacher assured me that Kalarippayat is not a religious system, even though historically it has its roots in the religious traditions of India, and in particular Kerala. In agreement with the state- ment of the KKA gurukkal I observed that, although KKA Kalarippayat teaches that there are several stages of spiritual self-development (referring to the seven steps of the puttara), only three of these stages are actually practiced inside the KKA kalari. Those three stages emphasize the physical and martial aspects of the art and the spiritual ones to a much lesser extent. Strictly speaking, the KKA kalari is intended as a space for performing physical ac- tions, not as a space for meditation. As far as I know, KKA Kalarippayat does not say anything on what to do in the four meditation stages but only that they are there. KKA Kalarippayat is primarily concerned with martial art movements (how to attack and defend oneself) and with chivalrous behaviour (how to be brave, to act without emotions of hatred, fear, anger, grief, and passion, and to be a “gentleman”). The spiritual concern is primarily a matter of the at- mosphere in which the martial art is practiced, and in which the gurukkal is very much concerned that the students take personal responsibility. The atmo- sphere is partly established by rituals and partly by the teachings of the gurukkal.

There is a special and personal relationship between teacher and student, which I will describe in the next section. This description is based on my observations during my stays in Kerala.

The Gurukkal as a Representation of the Divine The “martial lineage” (kalari sampradayam) plays a very important role in the legitimation of the knowledge of the gurukkal. A student can trust a teacher only if it is clear to the student that this teacher’s knowledge is “real” and “authentic.” The gurukkal legitimates his knowledge through his lineage: he should be able to name his teacher and the (mythical) origin of the lineage (Luijendijk 2008: 15).

Kalarippayat is seen as a branch of divine knowledge and an instrument that can lead its practitioners to a higher mental state and to an immediate experience of that divine. Because the source of Kalarippayat is divine, the art is, in essence, divine as well. According to the KKA teacher, performing Kalarip- payat is acting in accordance with the divine order of the universe (dharma). When Kalarippayat is done in complete harmony with the system, i.e. when somebody has merged with the system and the system itself has become part of the very soul of that person, the practitioner is in harmony with the order of the universe itself. Just as the kalari sampradayam of a teacher is embed- ded in the legendary and divine past of Kalarippayat, the divine origin of that system is shown and proven in the person of the gurukkal. This “proof” is re-

28 MARTIAL ARTS IN KERALA inforced when a teacher is also able to show that his sampradayam is linked to the heroes of the past. This proves not only that the practical application of his art works in reality but also that his lineage includes people who were powerful because of their union with the divine.

The divine can elevate a normal human being to a divine level of understand- ing. This happens only if that human being acquires a certain attitude. This attitude is one of complete trust in, reliance on, and devotion to that divine. This image is mirrored in the relationship between teacher and student. In a certain way, the teacher is the embodiment of the divine on earth, because he represents the tradition that is his lineage or his kalari sampradayam, which has a divine source. In this position the gurukkal is able to elevate his student from a state of ignorance to a state of possessing divine knowledge (the martial system). Just as the divine requires trust and devotion, so does the gurukkal. This means that a student should trust the gurukkal completely, and be dedicated to his person and his teachings. The gurukkal accepts a new student only if that student is prepared to devote him- or herself to the teacher: the student should not feel any doubt at all about the gurukkal’s intentions. Then and only then the novice will be accepted as a student.

Since the gurukkal is the embodiment of the martial system, he is truly—in the words of Catherine Bell—“simultaneously defining (imposing) and exper- iencing (receiving) the values ordering the environment” (Bell 1997: 82). As an embodiment, he has reached a personal union with the system. This means that the system has become a part of the inner being, even personality, of the teacher. The teacher not only teaches a (martial) skill, but he guides the student to a state in which that student becomes one with the system. In other words, a part of the personality of the teacher is poured into the soul of the student. In this way the voice of the teacher will always be audible to the student. And this is why a student is considered to be a child of the gurukkal, similar to how parents often see a part of their own character or body mirrored in their natural children. When he has shaped his students, the gurukkal sees his interpretation of the art and his way of thinking about the art (and about many other subjects as well) in the student. Like a real parent, he sees part of his being mirrored in the being of his pupil.

Basically, the “glue” between the gurukkal and his student is bidirectional: from the student to the teacher and from the teacher to the student. The form- er is based on the student’s respect for and trust in his teacher and his dedica- tion to his teacher and Kalarippayat. The latter is based on the unspoken promise of the teacher and the art to the student that he or she will one day be able to reach union with the art and, as a result, union with the divine. This gives the art a sacramental air, if not a mystical one.

29 STUDIES IN INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE 20 (2010) 1

The gurukkal is the embodiment of the sampradayam, which in turn mirrors the divine. It is the gurukkal who, by his acts and teachings—to quote Bell again—“define[s] the special qualities of the environment,” i.e. the gym (kalari). This can be taken literally: the gym is literally measured out according to the size of the gurukkal’s feet (Luijendijk 2008: 67). The gurukkal not only creates an air of “kalari sanctity” in the gym but does in fact define the sacred space. Even the altars should be molded out of clay by the gurukkal himself. On a mental and spiritual level, it is the teacher who decides how Kalarippay- at should be practiced and interpreted. In other words, the kalari is the representation of the gurukkal’s mind and body. It is the symbol par excellence of the supreme authority of the gurukkal on the subject of Kalarippayat.

Not only does the gurukkal define (to use Bell’s term) the sacred environment, but each gurukkal I came to know feels that he is Kalarippayat. He acts by the power drawn from that environment, legitimated by the divine power that lies at the foundation of the art.

Dimensions of Kalarippayat The fact that the KKA gurukkal stresses the a-religious character of his Ka- larippayat is also demonstrated by his teachings: as far as I know, he has never taught any explicit religious values or rules and never tried to convert any of his pupils to the Islamic faith. Although we should acknowledge that religion does play a role in the KKA kalari, the religious aspects of KKA Kalar- ippayat are more implicit than explicit. KKA Kalarippayat offers a structure in which chivalrous behaviour and martial body movements play the most important role. But space is also reserved within this structure that each practitioner can fill with his or her personal religion or convictions. In this way KKA Kalarippayat presents a religiously inspired framework that is intended to be open to various religious convictions. Because of this the KKA kalari has become more of an ecumenical space, which makes it possible for many religions to come together, and it may serve more as a model for an inter-religious dialogue than a place for a particular kind of worship.

If we associate religion with a particular system of doctrinal convictions, the KKA can hardly be interpreted along those lines. To do justice to the phenomenon, it would make more sense to follow Ninian Smart and his emphasis on “worldview.” He does not exclude doctrinal issues, but they are not placed in the foreground: … we should not define religion too narrowly. It is important for us to recognize secular ideologies as part of the story of human worldviews. It is artificial to divide them too sharply from religions, partly because they sometimes function in society like religions, and partly because the distinction between religious and secular beliefs and

30 MARTIAL ARTS IN KERALA practices is a modern Western one and does not represent the way in which other cultures categorize human values. (Smart 2003: 10) Smart then offers a description of a “worldview” in terms of seven character- istics that he calls “dimensions” (Smart 2003: 13-21): • Practical and Ritual: practices to which every tradition adheres • Narrative and Mythic: experience is often channeled and expressed by sacred narrative or myth; the “story side” of a worldview • Experiential and Emotional: what the followers of a worldview themselves undergo • Social and Institutional: the shared attitudes and practices of a group of adherents of a belief system; often rules for identifying commun- ity membership and participation • Ethical and Legal: rules with respect to human behaviour • Doctrinal and Philosophical: systematic formulation of religious teachings in an intellectually coherent form • Material: ordinary objects or places that symbolize or manifest the sacred or supernatural. Within a particular worldview, each of these dimensions can be stressed to a greater or lesser degree, or, in other words, within a particular worldview more importance may be given to some dimensions than to others. In view of Smart’s notion of religion, KKA Kalarippayat can be laid out in these seven dimensions as follows: • Practical and Ritual: rituals for starting the (daily) practice, the practice itself, rituals for stopping the (daily) practice, rituals for accep- ting a new student to the kalari, periodic rituals connected to the sea- sons, and periodic rituals connected the progress of a student • Narrative and Mythic: stories related to the origin of Kalarippayat, its “martial lineage” • Experiential and Emotional: the practice of the exercises, and the giving of massages; emotions resulting from performing the rituals • Social and Institutional: rules with respect to the hierarchy within the kalari, and the relation between the KKA kalari and its practitioners with society • Ethical and Legal: KKA Kalarippayat is greatly concerned with chivalrous behaviour—how to be brave, to act without the emotions of hatred, fear, anger, grief, and passion, and to be a “gentleman” • Doctrinal and Philosophical: each practitioner uses the doctrines that he or she chooses; this can be anything from a political to a religious background • Material: the (KKA) kalari, and weapons.

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This framework allows us to see why KKA Kalarippayat can contribute to a dialogue between people of different backgrounds: KKA Kalarippayat accepts any doctrine for filling in the Doctrinal and Philosophical dimension of Smart’s definition of “worldview.” This individual worldview can thus be in- corporated within the system of KKA Kalarippayat.

By using the expression “worldview” and explaining this in terms of “dimensions,” Smart rejects the distinction between religious and secular doctrines, since both are a manifestation of one and the same thing: a way of looking at and apprehending the world, a “worldview.” He considers ideologies to be forms of religious phenomena that can be approached in several dimensions. From this perspective, the worldview of the KKA kalari is such that each practitioner can bring the doctrines from his or her specific background to the kalari and use these doctrines to give meaning to the spiritual part of the practice in terms of the values from one’s background. Because this attribu- tion of meaning is a personal affair, and because each student is taught to act in a “gentlemanly” fashion towards other people, there will be no conflicts as to the rightness or wrongness of any doctrine.

In the following section I will discuss how Kalarippayat, which was, according to historical documents, a caste-based and probably religiously based martial system, was transformed into a martial art open to all Keralites, as described above. I will do so by describing the general historical development of Kalarippayat in Kerala during the last century.

Kalarippayat and Kerala Nationalism At the end of the 18th century, the English controlled most of Kerala. Fearing riots, they understood the danger of having an active warrior caste in Kerala. In 1804 William Cavendish-Bentinck, governor of Madras, prohibited Keral- ites from carrying weapons and even practicing Kalarippayat (Menon 1979: 289; Sreedharan 2007: xvi). But families continued to pass their knowledge on to their children and train them secretly. It was due to this prohibition that several Kalarippayat styles died out. At the start of the 20th century, however, a major movement in the defense of Kerala culture arose. Zarrilli writes that it was in Tellicherry that the resurgence of public interest in kalarippayattu began during the 1920s as part of a wave of rediscovery of the traditional arts throughout south India which characterised the growing reaction against British colonial rule. (1998: 51) Along with this movement, some teachers gradually started kalaris. Karnaran Gurukkal (1850-1935) and his pupil C.V. Narayanan Gurukkal (1905-1944) were among the first to come out into the open. C.V. Narayanan Gurukkal

32 MARTIAL ARTS IN KERALA started to give demonstrations and became well known throughout Kerala. In the 1920s and 1930s both gurukkals were busy introducing a new way of looking at Kalarippayat: they created a composite of several styles that em- phasized Kalarippayat not as a practical method of fighting but as a set of dramatic theatrical techniques for public performances (Zarrilli 1998: 51). Moreover, they claimed that Kalarippayat was a traditional art belonging intrinsically to the heritage of Kerala. Zarrilli writes that in this and other forms of public discourse between the 1930s and 1960s, what had been implicit became explicit—a narrative emerged at demonstrations or in photo- graphic images of the art of kalarippayattu as an encapsulation of Kerala’s valorous, heroic, mytho-historical heritage. (1998: 52) This resulted in the foundation of the CVN kalari, named after C.V. Nara- yanan himself, in 1958 and in the foundation of the Kerala Kalarippayat As- sociation. This association was under the leadership of Govindankutty Nayar, C.V. Narayanan’s son, and started with fifteen members. Narayanan also produced a syllabus that described all the forms and techniques taught within the CVN system (Zarrilli 1998: 95). Due to Narayanan’s successful efforts at popularizing Kalarippayat, stories of Kalarippayat’s legendary heroes were circulated in popular magazines, especially comic books, and films, connec- ting the people of Kerala with their cultural heritage and heroic past (Luijen- dijk 2008: 149-50; MacDonald 2007: 150). Nowadays a large number of all kalaris in Kerala are branches of CVN Kalarippayat, using Narayanan’s syllabus and curriculum, echoing his ideas on Kalarippayat.

The main opponent of Karnaran Gurukkal and C.V. Narayanan Gurukkal was the third son of the raja (king) of Chirakkal, Sreedharan Nair. Sreedharan did not agree with Narayanan’s ideas of Kalarippayat as a theatrical performance; for him, Kalarippayat was a method of fighting and living the life of a warrior. The quarrel between these two exponents of Kalarippayat culminated in 1934 when the two decided to settle their dispute in a public duel to the death (ankam). However, the fight was stopped at the last moment by the British authorities (Sreedharan 2007: xii; MacDonald 2007: 161). Sreedharan established his first kalari in 1936 in Chirakkal, the Rajkumar kalari, and a second one in nearby Vellapattanam, the Sri Barath kalari, which still exists and is led by Sreedharan’s son Prasad Gurukkal (Sreedharan 2007: xvi).

In 1976 the Institute of Malabar Physical Culture, which was later renamed the Kerala Kalarippayat Academy, was founded by a group of folklorists led by Chirakkal T. Balakrishnan Nair, another son of the raja of Chirakkal, who became famous in Kerala for his research work on local folklore. The KKA advocates the same ideas as Sreedharan Nair: Kalarippayat is not theater but a serious martial system. The number of kalaris influenced by the ideas of Sreed-

33 STUDIES IN INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE 20 (2010) 1 haran Nair is marginal compared to the number of kalaris inspired by CVN. This may be caused by a conscious political choice of the Kerala government, which is very wary of promoting a martial art on a pan-Indian basis (Mac- Donald 2007: 162).

At present, the government of Kerala promotes Kalarippayat as one of Ke- rala’s indigenous arts. In one of its handbooks, this martial art is included in the chapter on “Art and Culture” with other arts such as traditional dances, teyyam (a form of divination), and poetry.5 The District Handbook of Kannur (DHK) says about Kalarippayat: Kalari meaning school and Payattu meaning combat, Kalaripayattu is one of the advanced combat sciences of the world and has reproduced many a hero whose ex- ploits are celebrated in legends and folk songs. In the past, each desom or locality had its kalari or gymnasium, presided over by the guardian deity called Kalari Para- devatha or Bhagavati. Most of the heroes of medieval Kerala were products of the Kalari system. Both boys and girls received training in the kalari. It is the training and practice in kalari that are known by the term Kalaripayattu and this is valued very much from the point of view of physical culture. The whole philosophy underlying Kalaripayattu is that the system is to be used only for noble causes and never for self aggrandizement. The glorious days of Kalaripayattu had set with the dawn of the 17th century, with increasing use of guns and cannons. (DHK: 45-46) But the government of Kerala does not see Kalarippayat only as a cultural phenomenon of Kerala, it is also presented as one of its main sports. When writing about the sports merits of the people of Kerala, the handbook states: The famous Fort Maidan and Police Maidan provide ample facilities for youths to excel in this field (i.e. sport). The CDRE Football team and Hockey team excelled in those days. At the same time, the traditional martial art “Kalaripayat” has also been here, majestically, all along (DHK: 56-57). Moreover, under the heading “Outstanding Sport Personalities of Kannur (Cannanore)” the handbook mentions two Kalarippayat teachers: “T. Sree- dharan Nair and C.V. Narayanan—Well-known artists of ancient warfare and Kalarippayat” (DHK: 61).

The district handbook gives also a short account of the history of Kerala and the Cannanore district in particular. It considers Kalarippayat to be part of the historical past of the area:

5 The Kerala government has issued a series of “district handbooks” that deal with the industry, culture, agriculture, and specialties of a particular district. For this article I used the District Handbooks of Kerala: Kannur (www.kerala.gov.in/dis- trict_handbook).

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In the early days, the Ezhuthupallies under the Ezhuthachan or village school master, provided facilities to pupils to acquire elementary education. After undergoing the preliminary course of study in these institutions, the children were sent to the kalaris for acquiring training in gymnastics and in the use of arms and then they were sent to study Sanskrit in Vedic schools under well trained teachers. This district had in the past, its share of such Kalarippayattu, is particularly associated with this district (i.e. Cannanore District). (DHK: 20) The above gives the following picture of Kalarippayat. According to the Ke- rala government, Kalarippayat is part of Kerala’s past. They currently see the martial art as one of Kerala’s indigenous arts and promote it as good for the health of body and soul. This image is promoted by three (Kerala) government agencies: the Kerala Sports Council, the Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Department of Tourism. Many kalaris are members of the Kerala Sports Council, the official organ of the Kerala government that deals with sports in general. I saw this department actively promoting Kalarippayat in schools. They also financially supported and organized Kalarippayat competi- tions and games.

During the last decade many massage centers were opened in Kerala offering kalari massages.6 Also, some kalaris even provide sport demonstrations on request.7 This is good for Kerala’s tourist sector, and thus Kalarippayat is also promoted by the Kerala Department of Tourism.8 They also support the publication of books. The Department of Cultural Affairs also devotes space to Kalarippayat in its publications. For example, in February of the year 2000 they published a booklet in Malayalam, Kalaripayattu-Keralathinte Sank- thiyum Soundkariyavum by K. Vijayakumar. I do not know if they organize or support any other particular Kalarippayat-related events.

Arts like Kalarippayat are promoted by the government of Kerala as part of the common cultural heritage of the Keralites, about which every Keralite can be proud. From a sociological point of view, this heritage should transcend differences of political or religious background. This demonstrates that the policy of the Kerala government is directed towards keeping society together and preventing violence.

6 Massage and indigenous medicine (which is separate from ayurveda) is a part of Kalarippayat. 7 An example is the ENS kalari, situated near one of the most touristy cities in Kerala, Ernakulum (see their website www.enskalari.org.in). 8 See, for example their website www.keralatourism.org/trainingcentres/ category. php?cat=Martial%20Arts.

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Social differences in Kerala can be found on many levels: Kerala is a state with people of not only different religious convictions but also different castes, political backgrounds, and social status. A religious conviction is often related to certain political parties, and this combination in particular can result in friction between people who belong to different social groups. There are not only religiously oriented political parties, however. If we look, for instance, at the communist party, we see that many Keralites are enthusiastic commun- ists. Differences in political opinion cause unrest now and then. To keep all these people with different backgrounds together, there is a tendency towards a kind of nationalism, in which the history of Kerala and culture is promoted as belonging to all Keralites. Kalarippayat is seen as one of the indigenous Kerala arts and, although in the past the martial system belonged to certain castes, it is currently presented as being part of the common past and culture of the people of Kerala. This particular kind of nationalism is supported by the government of Kerala and by many Keralites, among whom are those who constitute the core of the KKA. Because the KKA kalari is open to everybody regardless of background, the KKA contributes to the national unity of Kerala and its people. KKA Kalarippayat offers a structure in which everybody is able to be open about his or her background without there being any consequences. There is no pressure to accept any religion or conviction, and its students are not in any way persuaded to follow any religion. KKA Kalarippayat welcomes students from all backgrounds and teaches its students to act in “gentlemanly” ways, to be “chivalrous warriors.” The latter is an attitude that can contribute to a dialogue between people of different backgrounds.

I believe that, consciously or unconsciously, people such as the KKA gurukkal contribute to this feeling of unity in Kerala and nationalism. This interpretation of the art may be caused by the fact that the English prohibition against practicing Kalarippayat was lifted with the emergence of Kerala nationalism in the early twentieth century. This feeling of unity and nationalism was al- ready connected to Kalarippayat by Karnaran Gurukkal and his student C.V. Narayanan Gurukkal as a result of nationalistic feelings that were a reaction to British colonial supremacy in Kerala.

The KKA and CVN kalaris present themselves as teaching universal arts, independent of cultural and religious differences, and as expressions of Kerala culture. For the KKA gurukkal, arts such as Kalarippayat came into existence within the common history of all Keralites. With this attitude Kalarippayat tries to “glue” the society of Kerala together, making Kerala into one nation with one identity. Because many kalaris use C.V. Narayanan’ ideas, and the fact that Kalarippayat is promoted by the government of Kerala as a “national art,” many kalaris have adopted a similar way of thinking in their teachings. I

36 MARTIAL ARTS IN KERALA will indicate this tendency towards nationalistic feelings in Kerala by the de- signation “Kerala nationalism.”

The feeling among many gurukkals that Kalarippayat is a typically Kerala— or even Indian—art may be a reinterpretation of the medieval feudal system of Kerala. Barbosa, a Portuguese who lived in Kerala for a time in the 16th century, observes that many kalari warriors used to fight for their lords, such as the Chirakkal raja and the Zamorin of Calicut (Barbosa 1989: 45-46). In my opinion, it is possible to argue that the feeling of loyalty towards the overlord is being replaced by the loyalty towards Kerala and India. This idea finds support when one considers Kalarippayat to be an art independent of any religion and one of the treasures of Kerala—and, from a broader perspective, In- dian—cultural heritage. Because loyalty towards the ruler is intrinsically connected to Kalarippayat and a logical and natural consequence of being a Ka- larippayat warrior, it may cause many gurukkals to be more open to Kerala nationalism.

In the following section I will show, via Victor Turner’s “social drama,” how Kerala nationalism is used as a “glue” for Kerala society.

Kerala Nationalism as a Redressive Mechanism Victor Turner is known for his contributions to symbolic anthropology. How- ever, especially at the start of his career, Turner interpreted his anthropo- logical field data in terms of functionalist theories, because he had been edu- cated by the Manchester School under Max Gluckman. The Manchester School had a keen interest in conflict and the analysis of actual situations. Turner was concerned in particular with the ways in which symbols and rituals operate in the social process. Turner’s book Schism and Continuity in an African Society: A Study of Ndembu Village Life was, for him, “a study of social conflict and of the social mechanisms brought into play to reduce, exclude or resolve conflict” (Turner 1957: 89). In order to understand how conflict works Turner introduced the concept social drama, which he defined as “a spontaneous unit of social process and a fact of everyone’s experience in every human society” (Turner 1980: 149). Turner divided the social process that constitutes the social drama into four major phases (Turner 1957: 91, 92): 1. a breach of regular norm-governed social relationships between per- sons or groups of a social unit 2. the breach tends to widen and extend, unless the conflict can be sealed off quickly 3. in order to limit the spread of the breach, adjustive and redressive mechanisms are brought into operation by leading members of the social group

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4. reintegration of the disturbed social group or social recognition of an irreparable breach. These phases provide a model in which conflict in Kerala society can be interpreted as a social process and Kerala nationalism as a social mechanism brought into play to reduce conflict. Breaches in Kerala’s society are caused by people having different religious points of view. This is demonstrated by, among other things, the vertical separation of Kerala’s society into “pillars.” In addition to people who have a strict religious worldview, there are large numbers who adhere to more secular worldviews, like communism. This creates problems on several levels in Kerala society, not least politically. Also, as a result of these breaches in Kerala society, people may tend to treat each other with suspicion and distrust. To prevent (further) social conflicts or to prevent conflicts from escalating, which in the worst case scenario may result in Kerala splitting up, “social tools” are needed to bring peace and to settle disputes. One of these tools is Kerala nationalism, which I have discussed in the previous section. In the following section I will explain how Kerala nationalism works as a redressive mechanism.

As I have shown, the government of Kerala considers Kalarippayat to be one of Kerala’s indigenous arts, and a national sport. As an indigenous art Kalar- ippayat is grouped together with traditional dances (e.g. Bharatanatyam and Kathakali) and classical Kerala music. Many Kalarippayat and other “traditional arts” schools, although originally caste-based, are open to anyone who wants to join. The way to overcome the problem of caste and religion in these “traditional arts” is to create an environment in which each student can bring his or her religion, which is “plugged” into the existing traditional patterns. The emphasis in these schools is on traditional (Kerala) ethical values. How this works can be explained by applying Smart’s model of “worldview.”

At the very core of such institutions is the authority of the teacher (in the case of Kalarippayat the gurukkal but other “traditional arts” work in the same way), who has an almost divine status. This means that if the teacher of a school of a “traditional art” is not inclined to set up his teachings according to “multi-ethnic” ideas, there is no reason why his or her school should become “multi-ethnic.” Therefore, the government tries to stimulate these ideas a- mong those teachers by advertising them during festivals in which “traditional arts” are demonstrated, games, and membership of a government-supported institute that allows certain privileges for its members. The KKA, for example, is a member of the Kerala Sports Council, which allowed them to obtain the status of an official academy, registered at the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, in New Delhi, an organization directly under India’s central gov-

38 MARTIAL ARTS IN KERALA ernment.9 As such, the KKA can even require the issue of a student visa, like any school officially recognized by the government. The latter can be used to attract foreigners, which may increase the earnings of the school. Another reason for many “traditional arts” schools to accept the “multi-ethnic” ideas may be that, in one way or another (perhaps through the lineage of the teacher), they have their roots in the nationalist movements that started in the 1920s. Recent developments, like the increase of tourism in Kerala, have turned Kerala nationalism into a product of Kerala culture, which can be sold to tourists and be advertised on the international market (MacDonald 2007: 166).

The government of Kerala is able to address Kerala’s population through the “traditional arts” schools. Because “traditional arts” schools follow the teacher-student (guru-shishe) system, influencing students (and to a lesser extent their families) via the teacher, and because of the social status of a teacher of a “traditional art” in Kerala society (he or she is close to the divine), the ideas of “multi-ethnicity” can be spread through Kerala’s society. In this way “islands” are created in which “nationalism” is more important than religious or political ideology. These “islands” function like Turner’s redressive mechanisms and as tools to unite Kerala society.

Conclusion The state of Kerala is deeply separated by people with different ethno-religious backgrounds and by political disputes that cause social problems and unrest. The government of Kerala tries to manage these problems by trying to unite its people by using “Kerala nationalism,” which accentuates the Keral- ites as a people with a common culture, history, and roots. Caste, religious, ethnic, and racial background are not important: everybody who lives in Ker- ala is a Keralite. “Kerala nationalism” does not focus on the differences but on the similarities among the population of Kerala. It tries to shift the importance from ethno-religious identity along the “pillars” of Kerala society to- ward a national cultural identity.

LITERATURE Bell, C. (1997). Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions. New York: Oxford University Press. Balakrishnan P. (1995). Kalarippayattu: The Ancient Martial Art of Kerala. Trivan- drum: CVN Kalari.

9 ICCR, Reg. No. F/AVR/94; Kerala Sports Council, Reg. No. N/245/95.

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