Swami Pura or Kalari Pura Where Lord Ayyappa Took Marital Art Lessons

Lord Ayyappa is believed to have taken lessons in Kalaripayattu – a traditional martial art of Kerala – as young boy from Kalari Gurukkal of Cheerappanchira family at Swami Pura or Kalari Pura at Muhamma in Alappuzha District in Kerala. The Pura, or the small hut, where the Kalari lessons where taught is still being preserved in its original form by the present generation of the family. Devotees who arrive at the Swami Pura also visit the Mukkalvattam Swamy Ayyappa Temple nearby.

Express Buzz writes about this unique place associated with Lord Ayyappa

With another Sabarimala season under way, the Cherappanchira family, which owns the Pura, have decided to renovate it so as to provide better facilities for pilgrims who visit it on their way to Sabarimala.

"The renovation plans include landscaping, boundary protection, an Ayurvedic garden, a prayer-cum-spiritual seminar hall-cum-auditorium, an 'annadaana centre', Navagraha Pooja facility, bath, cloakroom & comfort stations for the devotees and anything and everything helpful for the needy," says 67-year-old M Balasubramanyam, who now owns the Pura. "After completing his studies, Ayyappa quit the Pura. However, to pay the Lord a visit, the Kalarimooppan (guru) used to frequent Sabarimala. But before long, his ailing body would not let him make the pilgrimage. So, Ayyappa made arrangements for building a temple near the mooppan's hermitage, which is now the Mukkalvattam temple," says Balasubramanyam.

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