CRA’P Collaborations 2024
The Centre KALARIGRAM of Auroville, India, comes back to CRA’P, and the Centre HINDUSTAN KALARI SANGAM of Calicut, India, that is coming for the first time. With them we organise three weeks of activities based on Kalaripayattu, a millenary tradition of knowledge and practices about martial arts, health and spirituality.
Between the 9 and 28 September, with the collaboration of Mollet del Vallès City Council, we will venture into this ancestral tradition and its legacy guided by Lakshman Gurukkal and Shatrughnan Gurukkal, two renowned masters and their young talented disciple Amrutha E T.
CRA’P hosts this proposal by Esther Freixa of having the opportunity to share with her Kalaripayattu Masters in a residential format.
KALARIPAYATTU RETREAT WITH THE MASTERS LAKSHMAN GURUKKAL AND SHATRUGHNAN GURUKKAL
From 13 to 15 September in Valle del Llémena, Girona, Spain.
Kalaripayattu is an ancient martial art from Kerala, in southern India. It is based on the observation of nature and especially of some animals and their movements. Its practice allows the opening of energy channels by taking the body to its limits. It is a discipline that strengthens, relaxes and balances physically, mentally and spiritually.
During the weekend we will have the opportunity to delve into this ancient tradition with Kalari and meditation practices and spiritual rituals such as the pooja of the Sri Vidya Tantra tradition, led by two renowned masters from Kerala, India, and their disciple Amrutha E T, a young talent.
The food will be vegetarian and most of it traditional from Kerala, under the guidance of Raji Pallikara.
The place: A farmhouse from 1318 in the Vall del Llémena.
We will be hosted at a farmhouse specially prepared for retreat activities. A few kilometres from the city of Girona and surrounded by nature, warmth and peacefulness. The beds are individual and the rooms are shared in small groups. It has common areas, a practice room with views of the mountains. A cosy family atmosphere with all the comforts.
With Lakshman Gurukkal, Shatrughnan Gurukkal, Amrutha E T and Raji Pallikara
All levels. No previous experience is required.
We have the possibility to have two groups of practice: one introductory and another advanced.
Arrival: Friday, September 13 at 4:00 p.m. It is necessary to be punctual to distribute the rooms, make the introduction of the retreat and be able to start punctually with the practices.
Departure: Sunday, September 15, around 3:00 p.m., after lunch.
Very limited places.
Fee:
275€ Includes accommodation, food and practice (250€ CRA’P collaborators and associated members)
250€ before 20 August (235€ CRA’P collaborators and associated members)
Discounts for people who sign up for the workshops inn Mollet:
235€ Includes accommodation, food and practice (220€ CRA’P collaborators and associated members)
215€ before 20 August (200€ CRA’P collaborators and associated members)
More information and registrations: info@cra-p.org / 666 763 504
Lakshman Gurukkal is one of the few rare and revered Gurus of Kalaripayattu, Ayurveda and Tantra. Following the tradition of family lineage, he had started learning Kalaripayattu at the tender age of 5 under the tutelage of his father Guru Veerasree Sami Gurukkal. In his growing years, he also learnt from his father the art and science of Ayurveda. He has been awarded by the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India, with the title of Senior Fellowship (in Kalaripayattu and Natyashastra). He has a post graduate degree in Advaita Vedanta from Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, at Deemed University under the Ministry of Human Resource Development in New Delhi. He worked as a Lecturer in Martial Arts at the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady, Kerala. He is the director of Hindustan Kalari Sangam, the family centre in Calicut, Kerala. In 2010 he founded Kalarigram in Auroville, Tamil Nadu, an international research centre on the applications of Kalari for empowering the younger generations with the core principles of the ancient wisdom and its tools to develop an engaged and responsible human being.
The Kalarigram centre is based in Auroville, Tamil Nadu, India. It is structured as a holistic Kalari gurukulam, and was founded by Lakshman Gurukkal in 2010. It trains artists from all over the world. Kalarigram’s visit aims at imparting traditional Indian wisdom of body-mind training, performing arts and spiritual practice.
Shatrughnan Gurukkal with over 40 years of profound experience in the field of Kalaripayattu, he was initiated into the practice of Kalaripayattu and traditional Kalari medicine when he was 7 years old, learning under the strict tutelage of his father Guru Veerasree Sami Gurukkal. He is also prominent in another equally important aspect of Kalaripayattu, the traditional Kalari Marma Chikitsa, a massage-based treatment system considered to be the medicine of Kalari. With his dedication he has sharpened his practice, which focuses on orthopaedics and rejuvenation of the body, turning it into an art, and today he continues his research mainly at the Hindustan Kalari Sangam centre in Calicut, Kerala. He is a regular contributor to Kalarigram, the Kalaripayattu Performance Practice Research Centre and School of Kalaripayattu in Auroville run by his elder brother, Lakshman Gurukkal.
Amrutha E T, practitioner and trainer at Hindustan Kalari Sangam. She comes from a family dedicated to both practicing and teaching Kalari. Hindustan Kalari Sangam operates under the patronage of VeeraSree Sami Gurukkal. She has learned from and practiced with Lakshman Gurukkal, Shatrughan Gurukkal and Radhika Gurukkal. Born into a Kalari family, She was exposed to the art from a young age and had the privilege of being in constant contact with Gurukkals both during and after practice, which has given her the opportunity to learn all the nuances of the practice.She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electronic and Communication Engineering and a Diploma in Panchakarma Ayurveda therapist.
Hindustan Kalari Sangam, is an ancestral well renowned Kalaripayattu training center and Ayurvedic healing practice in Calicut, Kerala. Established during the year of 1950, under the patronage of Guru Veerasree Sami Gurukkal. Kalaripayattu is a very ancient martial art form, and has been designed for the holistic development of human beings – physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.