Swords, staffs and sacred pits: India's martial arts, state by state

Long before the gymnasium, India trained its warriors in the akhara, the talim and the kalari. From the staff fighters of Tamil Nadu to the sword dancers of Manipur, India's martial arts are at once combat science, physical culture and sacred tradition, and the Dhanurveda, the ancient science of the bow, is their common root. UPSC tests them as state-linked forms: one art, one state, one weapon.

Dhanurveda: the science of the bow

Dhanurveda, the 'science of the bow', is counted among the Upavedas, the applied Vedas attached to the Yajurveda, and is the classical umbrella for India's martial knowledge. It treated warfare as a discipline with ethics: training in arms, wrestling, strategy and the warrior's code. Every regional art below claims descent from this root, which is why the exam frames Indian martial arts through Dhanurveda first.

Kalaripayattu: Kerala's ancient art

Kalaripayattu of Kerala is often called the mother of martial arts, and among the oldest fighting systems in the world. Practised in the kalari, the earthen training pit, under a gurukkal (master), it fuses strikes, kicks, grappling and weapons with massage, medicine and spiritual discipline; its vital-point science is marma.

Tradition ascribes its systematisation to Parasurama, the warrior-sage of Kerala legend. Colonial bans drove it underground, and its twentieth-century revival made it Kerala's global signature, from films to fitness studios. For the exam, fix the chain: Kalaripayattu, Kerala, kalari, gurukkal, marma.

Silambam: the staff art of Tamil Nadu

Silambam is Tamil Nadu's staff-fighting art, named for the bamboo staff and built on intricate footwork, spins and strikes. Its empty-hand component is Kuttu Varisai. Tradition traces it to the hill country of Tamilakam and links it with the sage Agastya and the deity Muruga, a reminder that these arts grew inside sacred geography, not barracks.

The eastern and Himalayan arts

Thang Ta of Manipur pairs the thang (sword) with the ta (spear) in energetic, ritualised combat; its ritual form Sarit Sarak and the stick art Cheigi Gad-ga belong to the same Meitei tradition. Nearby, Sqay of Kashmir is a sword art, and Thoda of Himachal Pradesh stages ritual archery contests between symbolic armies.

The east adds Paika Akhada of Odisha, the war-dance of the Paika peasant-warriors with sword and shield in acrobatic display; Lathi Khela of West Bengal, the staff-play of village festivals; and Pari Khanda of Bihar, the Rajput-rooted sword-and-shield art.

The western arts: Gatka and Mardani Khel

Gatka is the Sikh martial art of Punjab, systematised under Guru Hargobind and displayed at the Hola Mohalla festival: stick, sword and shield wielded with grace, balance and rhythmic footwork. Mardani Khel of Maharashtra, centred on Kolhapur, is the Maratha art of the sword, swift and aggressive, kept alive in talims that still train wrestlers and swordsmen together.

Wrestling and the body arts

Malla-yuddha is the ancient Indian wrestling of epics and akharas; its ritual cousin Vajra Mushti, patronised by the Mysore royals, fights with a knuckle-duster. Musti Yuddha of Varanasi is the unarmed fist-fighting tradition, now rarely practised.

Bandesh is the northern art of seizing and unbalancing the opponent's arms, and Mallakhamb, the pole art of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, turns the wrestler's body itself into the weapon: strength, balance and aerial control on a wooden pole.

Martial arts at a glance

Key Terms

• Dhanurveda: Dhanurveda, the 'science of the bow', is counted among the Upavedas, the applied Vedas attached to the Yajurveda, and is the classical umbrella for India's martial knowledge. It matters because every regional martial art claims descent from it: the exam frames the whole family through Dhanurveda first.
• Kalaripayattu: Kalaripayattu is Kerala's ancient martial art, practised in the kalari (earthen pit) under a gurukkal, fusing strikes, weapons, massage and spiritual discipline through the marma (vital-point) science. It matters as the 'mother of martial arts': the oldest and most complete Indian fighting system.
• Kalari: A kalari is the earthen training pit of Kalaripayattu in Kerala, consecrated ground where practice is also worship. It matters as the institutional form of the art: master, pit and lineage together.
• Gurukkal: A gurukkal is the master of a Kalaripayattu kalari, teacher of combat, medicine and discipline together. He matters because the art transmits through the guru-shishya bond, not manuals.
• Marma: Marma is the vital-point science of Kalaripayattu: knowledge of the body's vulnerable points for striking and healing. It matters as the medical half of the art, inseparable from its combat half.
• Silambam: Silambam is Tamil Nadu's staff-fighting art, named for the bamboo staff, built on intricate footwork, spins and strikes, with the empty-hand component Kuttu Varisai. It matters as the great Dravidian staff tradition, linked in legend to the sage Agastya.
• Kuttu Varisai: Kuttu Varisai is the empty-hand fighting component of Tamil Nadu's Silambam tradition. It matters as proof that Silambam is a complete system: staff for distance, bare hands for close combat.
• Thang Ta: Thang Ta is Manipur's sword-and-spear art, pairing the thang (sword) with the ta (spear) in energetic, ritualised Meitei combat. It matters as the northeastern representative: martial art as ritual performance.
• Gatka: Gatka is the Sikh martial art of Punjab, systematised under Guru Hargobind, wielding stick, sword and shield with grace and rhythmic footwork, displayed at Hola Mohalla. It matters as the martial expression of the Khalsa spirit.
• Hola Mohalla: Hola Mohalla is the Sikh festival where Gatka is publicly displayed in mock combat and daring feats. It matters as the living stage of Punjab's martial tradition.
• Paika Akhada: Paika Akhada is Odisha's war-dance of the Paika peasant-warriors, fought with sword and shield in acrobatic display. It matters as a social document: non-Kshatriya peasant communities in organised military tradition.
• Mardani Khel: Mardani Khel is Maharashtra's Maratha sword art, centred on Kolhapur, swift and aggressive, kept alive in talims. It matters as the martial signature of the Maratha military tradition.
• Malla-yuddha: Malla-yuddha is the ancient Indian wrestling of the epics and the akharas, the root of India's grappling traditions. It matters as the oldest named combat sport in the Indian tradition.
• Vajra Mushti: Vajra Mushti is the ritual wrestling of Mysore fought with a knuckle-duster, patronised by the Mysore royals. It matters as wrestling at its most ceremonial: combat as court ritual.
• Musti Yuddha: Musti Yuddha is Varanasi's unarmed fist-fighting tradition, now rarely practised. It matters as the eastern counterpart to the better-known akhara wrestling of the north.
• Bandesh: Bandesh is the northern Indian art of seizing and unbalancing the opponent's arms. It matters as the grappling science inside the wrestling family: control before the throw.
• Mallakhamb: Mallakhamb is the pole art of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, in which the wrestler performs feats of strength, balance and aerial control on a wooden pole. It matters as the body itself turned into the weapon: gymnastics grown from wrestling.
• Lathi Khela: Lathi Khela is West Bengal's staff-play, fought in village festival bouts. It matters as martial art at its most popular: the people's staff, not the soldier's.
• Thoda: Thoda is Himachal Pradesh's ritual archery contest, fought between symbolic armies with bows and arrows. It matters as war remembered as festival: combat stylised into community ritual.
• Sqay: Sqay is the sword art of Kashmir. It matters as the Himalayan representative of India's martial map, completing the north-to-south coverage.

Prelims practice: five exam-style questions