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Message: <blockquote data-quote="sweets" data-source="post: 10551663" data-attributes="member: 363554">Sri Lanka, a country with a rich history that goes back for over 5000 years tells us of great Martial Art that were enjoyed by the kings who ruled this wonderful land. In the past ages, where the law of "survival of the fittest" prevailed, this tiny nation had to hold its own, mostly against the mighty India (South India - Chola Kingdom). The kings of India many a time thought to have this "Pearl of the Indian Ocean" to decorate their crowns and invaded the island. But invariably, each time, they were driven back. Such was the invincible might of the fighting techniques practiced by the people of Sri Lanka and they called it the ANGAM SATAN KALAWA (fighting art named ANGAM)."Anga" in the native tongue ( Singhala is the native language of the Sinhalese who are the majority in the country ) meant parts. Unarmed combat, was called Angam as only the human body parts were used to fight. Where various types of weapons are used, such combat techniques were called "ILLANGAM". A people with a rich culture which had various types of dancing for which a variety of drums were used, they made such music too a part of their traditional martial arts.Beside being called the “Pearl of the Indian Ocean” by many, this tiny island has been called by many other names including “Serendib” meaning ‘Paradise’. The geographical layout itself speaks why the island may have been called ‘Paradise’. With golden beaches right round, the country has a wet zone to the west. A dry zone exists to the north and south and the mountains of the mid country give you the cool climes. Although the forest that has been covering most of the island has been considerably thinned down by man at present, the country is still proud of a number of National Parks which has a high Bio-diversity. These are a ‘must see’ for any visitor to the island with leopards, elephants and deer roaming freely in the parks.The country has a recorded history of over 2500 years and stories of events passed down generations speak for over 3000 years. The mighty king Ravana, who is the only king spoken of prior to the recorded history began, was said to have some provinces in India too under his rule. Referred to as the golden age of Sri Lanka the good king was supposed to have built hospitals not only for humans but even for animals. “RAMAYANAYA” a book by the great Indian poet Valmiki is based on the war waged by King Rama of India against King Ravana of Sri Lanka. It is interesting to note that as per the story King Rama’s brother prince Lakshman had come to Sri Lanka to learn the art of war from the mighty king Ravana.The most famous battle in the history against the Indian invasions was the war between King Elara from India and King Dutugemunu of Sri Lanka in year somewhere between 161-137 BC One may visit the ancient cities of ‘Anuradhapura’ and ‘Polonnaruwa’ and witness the glory of the past of a great nation. The island remained an independent sovereign nation until the western nations armed with guns of the new world commenced the invasion of the east in their quest for spices, wealth and land In 1505 a ship commandeered by Lorenzo De Almeida, a Portuguese, battered by a storm accidentally happened upon the island. It is stated that when Lorenzo reported that he has found ‘Serendib’ that they had a special celebration in Portugal. Thus commenced the struggle for over 100 years by the Portuguese to colonize Sri Lanka. During this dark period for Sri Lanka the Portuguese advances into the island were time and again stopped with dire consequences to the invading armies. They could only hold some areas along the sea coast. Such was the invincibility of Sri Lankans. Finally in year 1656 with Portuguese power dwindling world over due to the rising of the Dutch naval powers, they were forced out of Sri Lanka.However the Dutch immediately took the place of the Portuguese and the people of the island were confronted with a new enemy. Thus the struggle to retain the sovereignty of the island continued for around a further 125 years with the Dutch until the British came along somewhere around 1782.When the British too failed time and again to defeat the King’s armies and take proper hold of the island, they turned to other strategies to unsettle the power of the last kingdom which was in the city named ‘Senkadagalapura’ ( present ‘Kandy’ ). In the year 1815 on March 02 the British with the support of some treacherous locals who held high office in the king’s council managed to take charge of the whole island by treaty.A splendid document is the said famous ‘Kandyan Treaty’. It promised the governing of the country to be as per the traditions that prevailed. However history proves that the promise was merely restricted only to the document. As mentioned earlier the prohibition of practicing our martial art was one of the first things that appear to have happened immediately after the British started to rule the country. Thus for the next 133 years i.e. till 1948 when the island was granted independence by the British Empire, a systematic campaign has been carried out to eradicate the great traditional martial art which was the national pride of the Sri Lankans. However even after independence the expected revival of the art cannot be observed as the prohibition imposed by the British was continued by the new rulers. Finally in the year 2002 only steps were taken by the Government to recognize ‘Angam Kalawa’ as part of our heritage. <img src="http://maharavana.weebly.com/uploads/6/3/7/2/6372380/1206797.jpg?385" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> { <a href="http://www.angampora.org" target="_blank">www.angampora.org</a> } One of our most ancient traditional martial arts, angan pora, that was used in many a battle against the Portuguese and Dutch and then went underground when the British prohibited it, is seeing a new revival in an angan maduwa in Kaduwela. What did Kataragama Mahasen of the Yaksha tribe, as legend would have it, who strode this land 25,000 years ago and showed off his prowess during a sura-aura battle, Ravana’s grandfather Pulathisi, Kuveni, Acharya Pandula, Parakrama Bahu I, Dutugemunu and the Dasa Maha Yodayas, Vijaya Bahu I, Seethawaka Rajasinghe, Leuke Disawa, Meegasteene Adikaram and Wickremasinghe Mudliyar have in common? Some genes for sure, as the Sinhala saying goes, “Thun Sinhalema nedeyo”, but the inextricable link is angan shastraya though known in those days as a parani deshiya satan kramaya (ancient martial art). This is what we hear while seated in a rustic wattle-and-daub hall in Koratota, Kaduwela, believed to be the only authentic angan maduwa in the country, having walked along a niyara across lush green paddyfields.“This was the martial art that Ravana used in the battle with Rama,” explains Mahantharachchige Ajantha Perera, taking us along the misty corridors of history, while two of his golayas (disciples) in loin cloth learn the finer points of angan pora. Twenty-six-year-old Ajantha has taken upon himself the task of nurturing and fostering this fighting technique, that had gone into disuse over time. Considered one of the few very ancient forms of martial arts, practised long before karate and kung-fu and at a time sans guns and bombs, it was angan pora that vanquished the Portuguese at Seethawaka, explains Ajantha, adding that certain families specialised in this art form.Having used it also against both the Dutch, and the British in the 1818 uprising triggered by Keppitipola, the British colonialists had in desperation prohibited angan pora through a Gazette notification around 1827, he says ruefully. The weaponry used in angan pora was also banned while its practice and teaching were strictly prohibited. If anyone broke this law, the British had warned, they would be shot at sight below the knee, says Ajantha, adding that it was then that this martial art went underground. As the British set ablaze angam madu across the country, the exponents of this technique quickly added the movements and steps to different dance forms to keep it alive. Our elders hid this martial art in narthana krama (dance forms), says Ajantha, explaining that adi maaru krama (the different foot movements), pinum-karanam (somersaults) and pahara deem krama (modes of attack) can be seen in the koti natum, vedi natum, walas natum, sinha natum and lee-keli natum.Why so many animal forms? In this martial art which is very close to nature, animal movements are used by the proponents, he says, adding that sathunge abhashayen gaththa shailayak.The tools of training even now come from the environment and one of Ajantha’s golayas strengthens his arms by husking a green coconut with his bare hands. Although earlier it was learnt by the masses at large, when the British prohibited it, the secrets were kept within the family, father passing it down to son or daughter.There was a strict regimen when choosing the disciples. “Everyone could not learn this art,” stresses Ajantha. “Only Sinhala Buddhists were chosen after reading their horoscope. The golayas were as young as six or seven years old as their bodies were flexible and to ensure that the mind was clean.” Both boys and girls were eligible, he says citing the cases of Navaratne Menike of Seethawaka in the 1560s and Edanduwawe Disapathiniya in the 1600s (Kandyan era). They were also taught vedakama for kedum-bidum (broken bones and sprains) and kepum thuwala (cut injuries). In gratitude for the support of about 18 families from Seethawaka who gave of their angan services to the country, especially in the Mulleriyawa battle, the king had presented nambu-nama (titles such as Lihinikaduwa and Suraweera) and also nindagam with a sel-lipi with the sun and the moon carved on it still standing as testimony. This fighting technique is also mentioned in the Mahavamsa, Rajavaliya, Chulavamsa, Magasalakunu Kavi Potha, points out Ajantha, adding that several ancient temples such as the Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, the Ridi Viharaya in Kurunegala, the Vishnu Devale in Hanguranketha, the Kataragama Devale in Embekke have paintings and carvings of the different poses. Lamenting that touches of other martial arts, such as cheena adi and even the namaskaraya from the Malayalam Malayadi have corrupted this battle form which saw the massacre of 1,600 Portuguese in 1562 on the Mulleriyawa wela, Ajantha as the Muhandiram (Principal of the angan maduwa) along with his four Pannikki Ralas vows to retain and pass on angan pora in its original form to the next generation. This fighting technique includes angan (unarmed combat), ilangang (use of 21 different types of weapons) and maya angan (mental power) such as yantra-manthra and the gupta shastraya to scare off the opponents by creating images of two when in fact there was only one, says Ajantha who got into this martial art as a child of six, honing his skills under the expert guidance of both his grandfather and father. There are 21 adaw (segments) which a good golaya would usually master in five years. Targeting nila sthana (important points) in the body, an angan fighter can not only hit to make an opponent lose consciousness but also give a second blow to revive the fallen victim. “There is another blow which can bring death instantaneously,” says Ajantha, adding that a different type of blow can bring on death in six-and-a-half hours, one-and-a-half days or even three months later, while another type of blow can paralyse a person or make him dumb.The other aspects of this martial art included rana-bera vadanaya (music) after blowing the hak gediya, followed by drum beats from the yak beraya, tammettama, daula, getaberaya and horanewa and checking out the auspicious time when going to battle, it is learnt. The weapons used are the sword, kirichchiya (dagger), spear, keteriya (axe), kala kiringgya (knuckle duster), rita and mugura (long and short canes) and dunna (bow and arrow), he adds. <img src="http://maharavana.weebly.com/uploads/6/3/7/2/6372380/3038584.jpg?328" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></blockquote>

Verification: Hathara warak wissa keeyada? (Hathara wadi karanna 20)

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