After former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi established a separate ‘Department for Youth Welfare and Sports Development’ in March 2000 to channelize the scattered energy of the youth towards sports, present Chief Minister M. K. Stalin has given a new impetus to ‘Silambam’, the ancient martial art of the Tamils by getting the sport included in the Khelo-India Programme. Acting on the state government’s request, the Union Ministry of Sports, on September 18, announced the recognition of Silambam as an indigenous game of Tamil Nadu under ‘Promotion of rural and indigenous/tribal game’ and included it in the Khelo India – National Programme for development of sports. “The State government has sought the recognition on the advice of Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and it is a matter of pride for the entire Tamil Community,” said State Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports V Meyyanathan. The State has also requested the Sports Development Authority of India to include ‘Silambam’ in the list of tribal sports, and take steps for its development, he said. Securing recognition for ‘Silambam’ at the national level was part of the series of proactive initiatives launched by the Chief Minister to create an enabling environment to make Tamil Nadu, the top most sporting state in the country and encourage sports persons to bring laurels to the state both at the national and international levels, the Minister said.

A peek into the history reveals that ‘Silambam’ is dated back to the Sangam period and the martial art was patronized by the ancient Chera, Chola and Pandya kings. The ‘Maravar padai’ of the Travancore Kings used Silambam as the main ‘weapon’ in their warfare against the enemies. History also has it that “Silambam tactics were frequently used during...