SOUTH INDIA - Kerala, Kollengode
Can there be a royal road to deep healing? We believe there can. Kalari Kovilakom is the Palace for Ayurveda, perhaps the first and only one of its kind. It offers intensive programmes in wellness based this ancient Indian science. And it offers them in a magnificent palatial setting that took years of restoration to create. Yet, Kalari Kovilakom gives you something infinitely more valuable. A chance to begin your life all over again.
At Kalari, every therapy is personal. Our treatments are individually developed for you by our doctors, often combined with yoga and other methods to provide deep-seated, lasting change from within. There are no game rooms, no shopping expeditions, no television sets. The evenings are alive with chanting and hymns, unsullied by the sounds of the city. You are in a space like no other on earth that we know of.
Yoga is the ancient Indian mind-body-spirit discipline, said to have originated in the 'sutras' (philosophical verses) of sage Patanjali, millennia ago. The word is from the old Sanskrit, and means 'union'. While there are many different forms of Yoga, the purpose of all of them is the same - to achieve oneness with the cosmos. For the serious Yogi, the ultimate aim is to attain 'moksha', or liberation from the karmic cycle of birth and death. The form of yoga that's most widely known in the West is 'Hatha Yoga', a system of 'Asanas' (postures) meant to perfect and discipline the body, and its accompanying breath exercises, called 'Pranayama'. At Kalari, we use the Bihar school of Hatha Yoga, a gentle, yet powerful form that combines particularly well with other therapies. Afternoons in the Yoga Centre are reserved for 'Yoga Nidra', a special meditative technique that brings about deep relaxation in the individual. Like everything else here, yoga therapies too are personal and focused. You'll be guided through a routine that's designed for your age, ailments, body type and general condition.
In Kallari Kovilakom, you can witness a Kalaripayattu sessions, which usually begin with a series of gentle exercises designed to awaken the inner pranic energies. You can try many of these yourself, to add a little extra booster to your treatments. Advanced Kalari practise includes training eith swords and shields. Expert masters hold regular demonstrations in the early mornings at the Kalari pit. The Kalaripayattu warrior is trained not just to be fast and strong, but also to be a healer. It is perhaps the oldest of the world's martial arts forms, believed by many historians to be the precursor of the more famous Chinese styles.