Gallery - Swathanthra Kalari Sangham

Videos

From the Kalari

Performances and demonstrations - from stage events abroad to daily practice inside the kalari.

Urumi · Ankathari TP Dakwan Gurukkal at the 77th Republic Day Indian Embassy, Kuwait · 26 January 2026

Sword Fight · Ankathari TP Dakwan Gurukkal at Bharat Mela, Kuwait Embassy of India · 13 February 2026

Sword Fight · Sisters' Performance TP Hafsa & TP Ramla Gurukkal - daughters of Ustad TP Kalandan Gurukkal Family wedding · August 2025

Katara · Dagger Practice Ankathari stage - T. Shaheer Gurukkal & Noufeed Gurukkal Swathanthra Kalari Sangham, Kunnamangalam

Practice at SKS TP Dakwan Gurukkal & Noufeed Gurukkal Daily practice at the home kalari

Sword Practice · Kuwait TP Dakwan Gurukkal Between the Indian Embassy performances

Father & Son · KGS Kalari T. Shaheer Gurukkal & son Salman Performance at his native place

Chakra Shoolam · Rare Weapon TP Dakwan Gurukkal & T. Shaheer Gurukkal Referenced in the Mahabharata · Seldom seen in Kalari

Return to the Home Kalari T. Shaheer Gurukkal practising at SKS Where he was taught

Venn Mazhu Payattu · Rare Weapon Shahad Gurukkal (SKS Omanoor) & Noufeed Gurukkal (SKS Kunnamangalam) Warriors of SKS - known across Kerala for rare ancient weapons and dazzling technique 🔥

Photographs

Moments from the Kalari

Ustad TP Kalandan Gurukkal - founder, 1959

TP Dakwan Gurukkal - portrait — **TP Dakwan Gurukkal** Current Gurukkal of Swathanthra Kalari Sangham

TP Dakwan Gurukkal practising in Kuwait — **Practice · Kuwait** TP Dakwan Gurukkal during training in Kuwait

TP Dakwan Gurukkal giving blessings at KGS Kalari inauguration — **KGS Inauguration · Blessings** TP Dakwan Gurukkal giving blessings before the first practice begins.

TP Dakwan Gurukkal training children at Kuwait — **Training in Kuwait** TP Dakwan Gurukkal with children during a training session abroad.

TP Dakwan Gurukkal at an Indian Embassy event in Kuwait — **Indian Embassy, Kuwait** TP Dakwan Gurukkal with a Kuwaiti national during an event organised by the Indian Embassy.

Opening day of K.G.S. Kalari Sangham with the Gurukkal family — **K.G.S. Kalari Sangham - Opening Day** With TP Ummayya Kutty Gurukkal (wife of the founder), TP Dakwan Gurukkal, the founder's daughters - Najma, Hafsa, Ramla & Soudha - and T. Shaheer Gurukkal.

T. Shaheer Gurukkal in val-paricha pose - Gurukkal of K.G.S. Kalari Sangham — **T. Shaheer Gurukkal** Gurukkal of K.G.S. Kalari Sangham, Anakkuzhikkara - inspired by Ustad TP Kalandan Gurukkal, and trained in unique kalari techniques by TP Dakwan Gurukkal, whose guidance fulfilled his wish to start his own kalari. Silver medallist for Sword & Shield at the 37th National Games (Goa, 2023). Read the achievement →

SKS team performing at Kuttikatoor ALP School Annual Function — **Kuttikatoor ALP School** SKS team performance at the Annual Function - promoting self-defence.

More photographs will be added as they become available.

Mathrubhumi Weekly · June 1965

A feature on Ustad TP Kalandan Gurukkal - performing Kalaripayattu in traditional tiger-skin costume - published in the Mathrubhumi Weekly, June 1965. These pages are preserved as a record of SKS's place in Kerala's cultural memory, two years after SKS had settled at Anappara.

Mathrubhumi Weekly, June 1965 - Ustad TP Kalandan Gurukkal feature, page 2

Mathrubhumi Weekly, June 1965 - Ustad TP Kalandan Gurukkal feature, page 3

Mathrubhumi Weekly, June 1965 - Ustad TP Kalandan Gurukkal feature, page 4

Mathrubhumi Weekly, June 1965 - Ustad TP Kalandan Gurukkal feature, page 5

Mathrubhumi Weekly, June 1965 - Ustad TP Kalandan Gurukkal feature, page 6

Mathrubhumi Weekly, June 1965 - Ustad TP Kalandan Gurukkal feature, page 7

Mathrubhumi Weekly, June 1965 - Ustad TP Kalandan Gurukkal feature, page 8

Mathrubhumi Weekly, June 1965 - Ustad TP Kalandan Gurukkal feature, page 9

An Early Competition Record

From a competition conducted by the Kozhikode District Kalari Sangham - SKS, under Ustad TP Kalandan Gurukkal, excelled across all three regional traditions of Kerala Kalaripayattu.

Competition record - Ustad TP Kalandan Gurukkal seated at centre with his students, and his son TP Dakwan Gurukkal as a child at right — Ustad **TP Kalandan Gurukkal** is seated at the centre. The young boy seated at the right is his son - **TP Dakwan Gurukkal**, the current Gurukkal - as a child.

**1st place** · Madya Kerala tradition

**2nd place** · Thekkan tradition

**2nd place** · Vadakkan tradition

A historical record of SKS's identity as a school that has long practised and competed across all three streams of Kerala Kalari.