Wrestling and other Martial Arts

The earliest sculptural group which attests to the existence of persons skilled in martial arts can be seen in the Avanibhajana-pallavesvara-griham at Siyamangalam (fig. 30). The cave temple carries on the flanks of its facade male warrior figures, which may reflect the prevalent cultural aspect in the form of ritualistic dancing in front of the deity. The physiological and iconographical features show, that they have well-built body and pose strikingly at each other by means of a cudgel and a shield. This may suggest the existence of a specialized group, who get train in martial arts and may represent the portrayal of a duel conducted as part of some festivities.

In support of this interpretation, there is portrayal of similar warriors engaged in a fight holding sword and shield in a panel on the eastern cloister wall (upper row) of the Vaikunthaperumal temple at Kanchipuram (fig. 31). These warriors are portrayed in a royal court witnessed by the king and his official, which hints that a sword-fighting competition was in existence.

Just above the two warriors in the same panel can be seen pair of horse men engaged in sword-fighting. They may be interpreted as another form of duel fight in a royal court, which was a sort of entertrainment in those days. C. Minakshi^[1] rightly regards these depictions as not scenes from a battle, but contest among the mallas and horsemen. This panel was assigned as depicting scenes from the time of Narasimhavarman I Mamalla and thus the interpretation also gains weightage.

Sculptural representation of wrestling can be seen in a panel on the northern cloister wall (upper row) in the same temple (fig. 26). Here it seems to be the depiction of a wrestling-match conducted in the Pallava court and witnessed by all the courtesans^[2].

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

C. Minakshi, op.cit, p. 26.

[2]:

Ibid., p. 15.