Kerala can boast of a long and colourful tradition in sports from very early times. The people of ancient Kerala addressed themselves to the needs of the body as well as the mind alike. From very early times, great attention was paid to the development of physical culture and martial art forms. The Kalaries of Kerala were the centres where the youth of the land were given physical and military training. Till the eighteenth century Kalaries functioned vigorous, and perfected one martial art called Kalaripayattu.
Among the martial arts of Kerala, special mention may be made of the Parisakali of the Mappilas of North Malabar, the Velakali, the Valeru and the Kunteru, and the Njaninmelkali patronised by temple authorities, the Margamkali and the Parisamuttu of the Christians were the most popular, over the above the Kalaripayattu. Today most of these are defunct.
In addition to the above martial arts, a good number of sports and games were played by the people of Kerala. The Onathallu or Kayyamkali was a kind of boxing. Talapandu was a kind of foot ball. Kill kali was a special sport popular in Trivandrum. Children specialised in certain games such as kut-tiyum kolum, Vattukali, Kallukali, Thi-ruvatirakali, Unjalattam, Ninthal, and Kolattam. Of these Kolattam and Thi-ruvathira kali are very popular even today and they are noted for rhythmic movements and team work.
Kerala has the distinction of opting for western sports and games (in the place of indigenous games) with the establishment of the British power. Cricket was the earliest game to be tried in Kerala. A cricket club was organised in Tellicherry in 1860. Football, Volleyball, Hockey, Tennis and Basket ball are the most favourite games played in Kerala. Shuttle badminton, Volleyball and Foot ball have snatched off quite a few distinctions at the university level. The state has been the venue of All India Foot Ball Tournaments. The Chackola Gold Trophy at Trichur, the Sait Nagjee Football Tournament at Calicut and the G.V. Raja Memorial Football Tournament at Trivandrum are the most important. Besides, the state has a good deal of sports organisations and clubs, which provide facilities for indoor-games also.
The State Sports Council was formed in 1954. It is the advisory body to the government in matters relating to sports. The Council functions solely on the grants provided by the State Government which amounted to about 58,150,00 in 1984-85.
Some of the glorious names in the history of the sports in Kerala need mention. Ivan Jacob, K. Reghunathan, Suresh Babu, Yohannan, Muralikut-tan, K. Premachandran are prominent figures. However, women outshine men in the field of athletics. Angel Mary Joseph, P.T. Usha, M.D. Val-samma, Shiny Abraham have carved out a niche for Kerala in athletics. The 80s have a real "golden age" for the fairer sex.
For the last few years Kerala has been on the fore-front in football. Kerala boys and girls have shown their skill both at the national and the international levels. Masters like Jimmy George, Johnson, Udayakumar etc. are Kerala's shining gems in the field of volleyball. Kerals's pride in the field of Basketball was held high by stalwarts like Muhammed Iqbal, Sam Joseph, Captain Rajan ect., while Vimalkumar, George Thomas, Jesse Philip took Kerala to unprecedented heights in Shuttle, Badminton. Sam Kristudas, Joseph, C.Y.A.Remlaa made their mark in Ball badminton, Wilson Cheriyan, Joseph Chavara, Jayakumar etc. are promising youngsters in the field of swimming. Keralites have had their say in sports and games like the Chess, the Kabadi, Weightlifting, Shooting, Tennis and Table tennis.
In spite of the remarkable progress which Kerala made in other fields, she has failed to produce any worthy name in cricket. Future may however, hold out possibilities even of cricket.
Other Recreations
Kerala has the pride of place among the states of India by virtue of some of her art forms like Kathakali, Kuthu, Kutiyattam and Ottam thullal. Kathakali is so popular that Kerala is known the world over through this art form. A detailed didscussion of these amusements will be given else where. A few other arts are given below. Patakam is an art form in which the actor narrates puranic stories. Harikatha is a musical discourse which is very popular. Both these are performances conducted in the precincts of temples. Kurathiyattam involves singing of stories of Siva and Parvati in temples.
These apart, Kerala is famous for several recreations like Pavakuthu (shadow play), Purakali, Marathukali, etc. Aksharaslokam is a scholastic passtime in which poems are sung in relay. However it must be pointed out that with the coming of radio and cinema most of these arts are beginning to lose their popularity in Kerala.
