- Source: Kottackkal Kanaran Gurukkal
Kottackkal Kanaran Gurukkal (1850–1941), was a Kalaripayattu gurukkal, who contributed to the revival or Kalarippayattu from after British ban of Kalaripayattu. His contributions to the preservation of Kalaripayattu has earned him the moniker, "Dronacharya of Kalaripayattu". Kanaran Gurukkal was born in a Chekavar Thiyyar Tharavad, a large Landlord family near Mukkali, Vadakara, Kozhikode. He was unmarried and lived a life fully devoted to the preservation of Kalaripayattu
Kalaripayattu, a martial art from Kerala, was banned by the British in the aftermath of the Cotiote War, and as a result, the Kalaris and institutions that existed far and wide in Kerala declined. Kanaran Gurukal was an important person among the Kalaripayattu gurus who played an early role in the revival of the martial art of Kalaripayattu which was destroyed by the British rule. Despite being a trained kalari gurukkal and a big land owner, he started his journey to protect kalari at the age of forty, traveling to distant places in Kerala and Tulunadu to learn different styles of kalari that existed and at the verge of extinction, with a determination to protect it. In order to finance for this he has sold 160 acres of land. It is said that every time when he was back home at Vadakara from these journeys , land buyers would be waiting for him to buy land. He learned Sambrathayams, Mantra Tantravidya and Dhyana Seva from the Gurus. He has also mastered six different styles of Kalaripayyatu including Arapillakai, Otimurassery, Vattayanthiruppan, Pillatangi which he had taught these to his disciples .
Later, after studying from the gurus' training, he came to Thiruvangat in Thalassery at the age of 65 and established his own Kalari for the first time. It can be said that this bravery of the Kanaran gurus was at a time when people did not come forward for this, even though it was very difficult. Then CVN Kalari's founder C. V. Narayanan was a disciple of Nair Kanaran Gurus
CVN Relationship with Kalari
In Malabar, CVN later took the lead in bringing Kalaripayattu to the people from inside Kalari. It was through Kalari. [1] C.V.N. CV Narayanan Nair, the founder of CVN Kalaris, was an important disciple of the Kanaran Gurus at Kottayam, as if we trace the roots of the Kalari Gurus in the medieval period to the Kanaran Gurus. Kanaran Gurus who started learning only at the age of 40 were the numbered Kalari practitioners after the time of Thacholi Othenan, Narayanan Gurus who were the main disciples of the Gurus and Chirakkal T. Sreedharan Nair who was a contemporary. CVN Narayanan Nair studied Abhyasamurahs from Kanaran Gurus and later it can be pointed out the main role of Kanaran Gurus in the establishment and development of Kalari. Kanaran Gurus disclosed their entire knowledge to C.V.
