Our Story
Kalarigram was established in 2010, near Auroville, as a traditional Kalaripayattu training center. An offshoot of Hindustan Kalari Sangam, Shri Lakshmanan Gurukkal set this up in Tamil Nadu to spread awareness of this martial art form. Kalaripayattu, Ayurveda, Yoga, and Meditation classes and workshops are conducted here.
Shri Lakshmanan Gurukkal hails from a traditional Kalaripayattu family. His father and guru, Shri Veerasree Sami Gurukkal trained under Guru Govindankutty Nambiar. He established Hindustan Kalari Sangam in Calicut, in 1952, to preserve and promote this traditional martial art form. His children Shri Lakshmanan Gurukkal, Shri Shatrughnan Gurukkal, and Smt Radhika Gurukkal are now carrying forward this tradition.
Our Founders
Hindustan Kalari Sangam, Kozhikode was established in 1952 by Veerasree Sami Gurukkal. Having learned under Shri Govindan Kutty Nambiar, one of the stalwarts of the freedom movement, he set up a Kalari training school in Kozhikode to spread this knowledge to the people in that region. His children M. Ramesan (Shri Lakshmanan Gurukkal), M. Rajesh (Shatrughnan Gurukkal), and Radhika Gurukkal have carried forth this tradition. In 2010, Lakshman Gurukkal set up Kalarigram in Auroville, as an offshoot of Hindustan Kalari Sangam. Apart from being the Director of Hindustan Kalari Sangam, Calicut; Founder and Managing Trustee, Kalarigram; Lakshman Gurukkal has been awarded by the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India, with the title of Senior Fellowship (in Kalaripayattu and Natyashastra). He has a postgraduate degree in Advaita Vedanta from Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, a Deemed University under the Ministry of Human Resource Development in New Delhi. He worked as a Lecturer in Martial Art at the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady, Kerala.