{"id":199885,"date":"2019-03-19T14:40:44","date_gmt":"2019-03-19T09:10:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=199885"},"modified":"2019-03-22T16:53:06","modified_gmt":"2019-03-22T11:23:06","slug":"angampora-5000-years-of-combat-tradition-a-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/angampora-5000-years-of-combat-tradition-a-response\/","title":{"rendered":"Angampora \u2013 5000 Years Of Combat Tradition – A Response"},"content":{"rendered":"

By P. Soma Palan<\/a> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

P. Soma Palan<\/p><\/div>\n

I refer to the article under the heading “Angampora \u2013 5000 Years Of Combat Tradition”\u00a0by Mr. Dishan Joseph (DJ) in the Sunday Observer of 10th<\/sup> March. I wish to express my contrary views to his proposition that Angampora is a traditional \u201cindigenous Martial Art of Sri Lanka that has withstood the test of time\u201d, <\/b>as stated by him, for following reasons:<\/p>\n

1. By the word \u201cindigenous\u201d, it is presumed that he implies that it is an original Sinhala Martial Art form and it has 5000 years of combat tradition. This contradicts ancient historical facts. 5000 years would mean, either inclusive of the CE (Christian era) or 2500 years\u00a0<\/span>BC\u00a0<\/span>(before CE). Considering the claim of the Mahavamsa<\/strong><\/a> that the Sinhala race was founded by Vijaya only in 500 BC, then,\u00a0<\/span>Angampora could not be an indigenous Sinhala martial Art form, because there was no Sinhala race in existence, at that period of time. Therefore, those who practiced Angampora martial art could only be non- Sinhala inhabitants of Lanka from pre-Vijayan time. DJ also says that \u201csome say that King Ravana was well versed in this defensive art as well as being a practitioner of Ayurveda\u201d. <\/b>This is quite true. Ravana was, additionally, an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva, and a Hindu Tamil. Even Ravana\u2019s grandfather King Pulasthi, his brother Kumbarkarnan, King Moothasive and his son Devanambiya tissan, were all Dravidian Hindu kings.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

2. Therefore, it is clear that the so-called \u201cAngampora\u201d martial art was practiced by the\u00a0 <\/span>ancient Dravidian Tamils and\/or the Telugus. In the post- Devanambiya\u00a0<\/span>period , this martial art form would have been continued by the converted Hindus to Buddhism, who adopted the ethnic label, Sinhalese.<\/p>\n

3. DJ gives the etymological break-up of the word Angampora. The word \u201cAngam\u201d he says means the body and “Pora\u201d means fight. He presumes this is a Sinhala word. DJ states that Angampora\u00a0 <\/span>\u201chas a 5000 years of combat tradition\u201d.<\/b> The claim it is a Sinhala word and 5000 years of combat tradition, are self-contradictory. Because, there was no Sinhala written language, alphabet and grammar, then. Sinhala language evolved only around 7th<\/sup> century A.D. Further, the Sinhala race is said have been founded by Vijaya only in 500 BC, as per the Mahavamsa chronicle. Thus the name of the martial art \u201cAngampora\u201d is an adaptation of the Tamil word \u201cAngampor<\/b>\u201d. Tamil meaning of the word \u201cAngam\u201d is limbs of the body (not the body) and the word \u201cpor\u201d means fight. The word \u201cpor\u201d has been transmuted to \u201cpora\u201d, by the Sinhalese. That is, fighting with limbs (legs and hands). The truth is that, this martial art form is not indigenous to Lanka, but a South Indian Martial art form. Since the indigenous inhabitants of Lanka, since the time of King Pulasthi to King Devambiya tissan were a mix of Dravidians (Tamils,<\/p>\n

Telegus, Malayalees, Kannada etc), Angampor, as a martial art, was practiced by them, from the time Lanka separated from the mainland, South India. Moreover, the existence of another variation of this South Indian martial art, called \u201cAngampudi, <\/b>which is a form of combat using limbs in \u201cPudi\u201d, meaning ,\u201cholds and locks\u201d, which is akin to modern day Indian Wrestling, reinforces\u00a0 <\/span>the proposition that \u201cAngampora\u201d referred to by the Sinhalese, is in actual fact, is of South Indian origin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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