27 Nov 1997  · comment

The Enlightened Body

The history and practise of the Indian martial art Kalarippayattu Dawn. Outside, a cool “half-light” heralds the ritual of prayer, as temple bells wake a sleeping village. Inside, however, the flickers of light from a solitary oil lamp light up red earthen walls and the mud-packed floor under an ageing thatched roof — mute witnesses to the ritual of combat. Surrounded by the silent aura of warm red earth, two glistening, oil-soaked bodies come forward slowly, like leopards about to attack. Bare, but for a tightly wrapped loin-cloth, their lithe bodies ripple like a coiled serpent waiting to unleash its power. As the two coils of energy meet in the centre of the room, they crouch down to give a low salute, slow and dance-like in its elegance, breathtaking in its beauty. With a gentle touching of arms, they return to their crouch; feet set firmly on the ground, thighs forming a rock-stable square with the earth, and hands clenched tight and drawn up together under the chin. As their arms circle their heads, one “sees” the centring of energy, the coiling of the serpent, as it were. The movement complete, the “serpent” stands coiled and ready, waiting to spring forward and unleash its deadly power.