For past kings and tomorrow’s women

The dand patta is the stuff of legend in Maharashtra It combines the malleability of a gauntlet and the doubleedged sharpness of a sword Those who wield the dand patta must dedicate a year to acquiring the skill and precision it commands before they can even lay their hands upon the weapon Straight out of a fantasy novel it was Shivajirsquos weapon of choice historians say that the Maratha king bestowed the name Yeshwanth on his favourite oneThis past week most Mumbaikars heard of the dand patta for the very first time when it was declared the state weapon by cultural affairs minister Sudhir Mungantiwar on February 19mdashon the occasion of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj JayantiTo Indrajit Sawant a historian who has authored a book devoted to Shivajirsquos swords research about mediaeval Maratha warfare was incomplete without an indepth exploration of the dand patta ldquoThe weapon has made an appearance at pivotal points in Maratha history when Shivaji was attacked by Afzal Khan the formerrsquos bodyguard Jiva Mahala is believed to have use the dand patta to cut off Khanrsquos head in one strokerdquo the writer of Bhavani Talwari recalls Nitin Shelar has been practising and teaching Maradani Khel for the last 10 years in PunePeople began to perceive the weapon as possessing mythical powersmdashas the physical embodiment of the divine and dangerous for the Marathas throughout the 18th century The rise of the British empire put an end to this perception Come 1871 the weapons of warrior clans and tribes across the country were confiscated by British soldiers in response to the growing nationalism of the natives ldquoMany Marathas lost their ancestral and revered weapons A few households hid them in the malas granaries out in their fieldsrdquo says Nitin Shelar founder of Rashtraveer Sangh in Punersquos Ram NagarShelar has been practising and teaching the martial art Shivkalin Shastra Kala Taleemmdashnow popularly referred to as Mardani Khelmdashfor the last 18 years the dand patta comes under this particular martial art ldquoThere has been a resurgence in the martial art in the past two to three decadesrdquo Sporadic efforts to revive the skills required for this martial art have been made since the early 20th century but it is in the last decade that Maharashtrarsquos youth particularly girls and young women who have expressed a passionate interest in Mardani KhelThis development is linked to a reawakening that has taken place in the statemdashof what it means to be a Marathi woman today says Dr Sujit Nilegaonkar a former practioner of the martial artDr Sujit Nilegaonkar and Deepak SuryavanshiKundalik Kachale who has been practising the martial art for the last decade and has tutored over 2000 students in Pune says that the transformation of close combat practices into sports has been the key to the resurgence ldquoAround 70 per cent of those learning Mardani Khel are girls or young women Parents of young women from Marathi homes look at it as a way to equip their daughters with skills to fight off attackersrdquo says KachaleKolhapur resident and journalist Deepak Suryavanshi explains how performative elements have been assimilated into the combat skill ldquoIn one of its most performative forms the practitioner holds a lemon between the ground and the heel of hisher feet They then use the dand patta to slice the lemon into half This is a skill that many youth strive hard to achieverdquo says SuryavashildquoIt was a postbattle strategyrdquo says Shelar letting us into the mastery behind the lemon slice move ldquoWhen wersquod win a battle the soldiers would walk across the battleground checking for fellow soldiers in need of help As far as the enemy soldiers were concerned Marathas would walk over their bodies to make sure they were dead while wearing the dand patta Some enemy soldiers pretending to be slain would try to attack the Marathas and cut their heels Now replace the lemon of modern times with any enemy soldierrdquo The dand patta was an equaliser in this sensemdashembraced by kings and soldiers