Thiruvananthapuram: Nothing can become a barrier if you have the zeal to crack it down. Well, this has been proven by Meenakshi Amma, who defies age with a twirl of her sword.
76-year-old Meenakshi Amma, India’s oldest Kalaripayattu exponent, has kept this art form alive, showing her skills of Kalaripayattu for the past 68 years.
At the age when it becomes hard even to walk properly with several diseases, Amma is teaching the virtues of martial arts to the next generation of the nation.
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Honouring her for oldest Kalaripayattu fighting skills and her contribution to teaching the art form to the next generation, the Government of India honoured her with Padma Shri in the year 2017.
Let’s know more about Meenakshi Amma
Meenakshi Amma had started learning Kalaripayattu at the age of seven. She had been trained under Guru Raghavan, who married her when she was 17 years old.
Digesting all negative responses from society, she continued learning Kalaripayattu at a time when girls were not encouraged to learn this art form.
Now, she runs her own school named ‘Kadathanadan Kalari Sangam, located in Vadakara near Calicut, Kerala, with 150 students. Her school runs in ‘Dakshina’ (donation) received by its students at the end of each year.
Kalaripayattu, reportedly 3,000 years old martial art of India that originated from the southern state of Kerala, is one of the oldest existing combat methods. It is mainly practiced by the warrior caste of Kerala (Nairs), which incorporates the elements of dance and yoga, including weapons such as swords and shields.
The art form was banned by the British colonial rulers in 1804; however, it remained underground and revived again after India’s independence in 1947.
The inspiring story of Meenakshi Amma proves that age cannot become a barrier to stop one’s passion or to do something good for the nation; just it’s a matter of determination that is inculcated in everyone. We just need to trace it within us, that one talent that little determination, which later becomes the epitome of our existence.
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