About Kadathanad Kalari Sangham in Karimbanapalam, Kozhikode (Calicut)

Kadathanad Kalari Sangham ,A school for learning Kalaripayattu , an ancient yet traditional form of martial arts, was established in 1949 by Sri raghavan gurukkal along with his two brothers and sri dhamu gurukkal . It was started at a time when people were being denied training because they belonged to a lower caste. Raghavan gurukkal was also denied training for the same reasons, but he coming from a reputed family took it upon himself to make a place where he himself could learn and also impart this knowledge to others irrespective of the caste or religion.This is how the current martial arts school KADATHANAD KALARI SANGHAM was formed in a small town of vadakara in the calicut district of northern kerala. Vadakara is a place with deep roots to kadathanadan kalaripayattu, the birth place of Thacholi othenan a legendry warrior believed to be from the 16th century.

Kadathanad Kalari sangham is now run under Meenakshi gurukkal wife of Raghavan Gurukkal. Born on April 13, 1942 Meenakshi gurukkal started training in martial arts at the young age of 7.Meenakshi Gurukkal or meenakshi amma as she is known has displayed the talents of herself and her students in various locations mainly temples with the aim of keeping Kalaripayattu alive, the most noted of them being Thacholi Manikoth temple in Vadakara which has deep roots in Kadathanadan Kalaripayattu.

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