Ashan Vipin Das

Ashan Vipin Das is the founder and Gurukkal of Athma Kalari in Chemmalasseri, Pulamanthole, in the Malappuram district of Kerala. Kalaripayattu came to him from his grandfather: he is the eighth generation of the Chemmala Nair family of Valluvanad, and began training at the age of seven. In more than 29 years of practice he has learned from Sri Vijayan Gurukkal in the Vadakkan style, Sri Jammal Kalari in the Madhya Kerala style, and Sri Babu Varghese in the Kadathanadan style. He founded Athma Kalari in 2005, and the school has since opened branches in Angadipuram (2018), Chemmalasseri (2019) and Pambadi (2021), where local students and visitors from abroad train together in the same kalari. He has trained state-level champions in yoga, boxing and gymnastics, and in 2022 led a 10-day intensive Kalaripayattu programme for the Indian Army's Madras Regiment. Alongside training, he practises Kalari marma therapy, Kathakali oil massage, Ayurvedic therapy and yoga therapy, and offers treatment for paralysis, muscle and joint pain, and neck and disc problems.