Hanky/Embodied Reception, 9. Kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘ in Performance: Adoptions and Adaptations of a South Indian Martial Art

Kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘is a martial art with an allied medical system that originated in South India in what is now the modern state of Kerala. Its long and complex history includes a revival from near-extinction in the early 20th century, whose features parallel the creation of modern yoga in the same period. While still a niche activity, kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘’s visibility has increased in recent years. I argue that an important factor in the dissemination of kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘ beyond Kerala and its historical quasi-temple environment is its adoption by contemporary dancers in India in the last half of the 20th century, both in their training and in performance. This paper examines the imbrications between kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘’s home context of the kaḷari-temple and the fertile ground of the Indian contemporary dance scene. My research focuses on the CVN lineage, part of ‘northern style’ or ‘Malabar’ kaḷaris, so-called because they originate in the Malabar region of northern Kerala. I draw on my relationship with CVN Kalari in Thiruvananthapuram which began in 2002, and has, since 2010, included eight extended periods of intensive study and training. My first encounter with this kaḷari was among dance artists at an international choreographic laboratory in Bengaluru, and so this paper contains autoethnographic as well as more conventional ethnographic elements.