Historical archive

Parashurama, Hanuman and the origins of Kalaripayattu

A warrior-god who raised Kerala from the sea, 108 training grounds and a monkey god famed for his leaps: the sacred stories of India’s oldest-looking martial art.

The monkey god Hanuman carrying Rama and Lakshmana, Kalighat painting — Hanuman with Rama and Lakshmana on his Shoulders — Kalighat painter, c. 1890. Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 (public domain).

The legend

Legend

Parashurama, the axe-bearing avatar of Vishnu, throws his axe into the ocean; the waters draw back and the land of Kerala appears.

He has learned the art of fighting from Shiva himself, on the mountain.

He founds 108 kalaris, the sunken training grounds, and teaches 21 masters to defend the new land.

Other masters invoke other heroes: one lineage of the art bears the name of Hanuman, the monkey god of strength who leapt across the sea to Lanka.

What history shows

Evidence

The Parashurama story, including the 108 kalaris and the 21 gurus, is a Kerala tradition preserved in a Malayalam song; it is sacred history, not a datable event. The southern style is revered as combining the teachings of Parashurama and of the sage Agastya.
Hanuman’s link is real but modest: styles called vazhi (“ways”) include Hanuman vazhi, Bhiman vazhi and Bali vazhi, named after epic heroes. Hanuman is also honoured as a patron of strength in Indian wrestling (kushti) gyms.
Historians date the formation of Kalaripayattu to the 11th–12th centuries in Kerala, from battlefield techniques; Philip Zarrilli sees older precursors in Sangam-era combat and the Sanskrit Dhanur Veda tradition. Ballads from the 12th century onwards describe compulsory martial training.
Under British rule the art declined (a ban in 1804, after the Pazhassi revolt, is often cited); its public revival began in the 1920s in Thalassery.

In short: Living religious stories that give the kalari its sacred meaning — the shrine corner, the invocation of gods. The documented art is medieval and Keralan, revived in the 20th century.

Images: public-domain or CC0 works credited under each picture, or original WABUKAN ink illustrations. Panels: the story told in numbered comic boxes.

Sources

Kalaripayattu — Wikipedia — en.wikipedia.org
Parashurama — Wikipedia — en.wikipedia.org
Hanuman — Wikipedia — en.wikipedia.org
Pehlwani (kushti) — Wikipedia — en.wikipedia.org
Hanuman with Rama and Lakshmana on his Shoulders — Cleveland Museum of Art — clevelandart.org

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