Puri Priests Learn Martial Arts

Jahnava Nitai Das · December 7, 2002

Source:

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/printedition/301102/detNAT25.shtml

BHUBANESWAR, INDIA, November 29, 2002: Servants of Puri's Lord Jagannath

might soon have an added qualification on their resumes. Priests who have

spent a lifetime fine-tuning ritual supplication will now learn the art of

resistance. Wary of an Akshardham or a Raghunath temple-style attack,

administrators of Puri's most famous landmark have decided to impart martial

arts training to the temple's priests. The way temple administrators see it,

should terrorists manage to breach the outer security cordon of gun-toting

personnel, the priests with their newly acquired karate, judo or kung-fu

skills will present a second line of defense. "We are now initiating efforts

to revive the traditional security system keeping in view modern needs.

Thousands of devotees visit the shrine daily for a darshan of Lord

Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra. Entry and exit of so many

people makes the shrine vulnerable to terrorists," temple administrator B.

S. Panda said. The priests seemed enthusiastic saying, "It (physical

training) will be very good," said R.C. Dasmohapatra, president of the

Daitapati Nijog. The temple administrator did not explain how an unarmed

priest, however skilled in martial arts, could successfully overcome a

heavily armed terrorist.

Gauracandra · December 9, 2002

Are there native forms of martial arts in India? I would think Ksatriyas would have developed scriptures and schools for teaching such traditional studies. If they do exist, what are they, what is their style, and how do they differ from what we tend to think of as martial arts (kung fu, karate etc…). Just curious.

theist · December 9, 2002

Yeah there are. One style is called Kaliyiprayat(sp). The prospect warrior would begin training at age five.

Some excercises were supposedly taken to Shaolin temple in China by an Indian Buddhist monk Boddhidharma, who is famous as Da Mo in china.

Legend has it he went to Shaolin temple and was struck by how weak the monks were. He then introduced excercises to keep them strong and fit. Something like chi kung which is a Chinese version of astanga yoga with emphasis on breathing and energy (chi/prana) manipulation. Employing standing forms as well. From these, animal styles evloved, tiger prayin mantis etc. As the need to protect the temple grew it became more militaristic. So the story goes.

China seems to have done a better job at systematically documenting this kind of knowledge than India, but surely all cultures would have developed some system of defense.