India’s Great Warrior Monks: Forerunners of Hatha Yoga, Ayurveda, and Chinese Kung-Fu

Sat Guru Dharmananda Swaroopa Hanuman Das Swamikil

Dana and I have the honor of hosting our beloved teacher from Kerala, India the weekend of July 10, 11, and 12, 2009. We will be having a sitar & tabla performance by Andrew Mendelson of RagaMalaProductions.com (director/producer/star of the documentary fim “A Cricket in the Court of Akbar: An American Sitar Player in India”) followed by a photo presentation, lecture/interview, and question and answer session regarding Swamiji’s life’s work – the preservation and propagation of the ancient Indian martial art, Kalaripayattu , the related healing system, Kalarichikilsa, and the Kalariyil Dharmikam Ashram.

Swamiji Hanuman Das is the founder of the Dharmikam Ashram, which is forty-five minutes outside the southern Indian city of Trivandrum in the state of Kerala. The ashram, Kalari, and spectacular Hanuman Temple is located in the verdant Keralan countryside amongst beautiful banana and tapioca fields.

Swamiji Hanuman Das is one of the few surviving great masters of Kalaripayattu, an ancient Indian martial arts system that pre-dates Chinese Kung-Fu. Kalarchikilsa is a body of knowledge with its roots in Siddha medicine. The Siddha System of Medicine also known as Siddha Vaidya in India, is the oldest among the Indian Medical Systems - namely Ayurveda, Siddha & Unani and it is also the oldest medical system in the world.

Westerners unfamiliar with Kalaripayattu or Kalarichikilsa need only look to the wide-spread practices of Hatha Yoga, Chinese Kung-Fu, and the ancient, but more well-known healing system of Ayurveda for understanding. These systems are in many ways, direct descendants to those of Kalaripayattu and Kalarichikilsa.

Swamiji’s lineages can be traced through his great teachers: Panniyodu Louis Gurukkal, Moolachal Narayanan Gurukkal, and Jagat Guru Maha Prabhu Swaroopananda Swamikal.

If you have any interest in learning more about one of India’s greatest living warrior monks, please come join us on Sunday, July 12, 2009 at 6:00PM at the Ashtanga Yoga New York and Sri Ganesha Temple, 430 Broome Street #2 New York NY 10013

Private consultations with Swamiji – recommended for individuals with physical and/or spiritual issues or questions – are available by appointment ($100 each hour). Please call 347-387-4918 or 917-439-3580

Jai Hanuman! Breath of Ram

OM Shantih,

~b