Urumi

The urumi (Malayalam: ഉറുമി urumi; Sinhalese: එතුණු කඩුව ethunu kaduwa; Hindi: aara; Tamil: சுருள் பட்டாக்கத்தி surul pattakahthi, lit. curling blade) is a sword with a flexible whip-like blade from India. Originating in what are now southern India and Sri Lanka, it is thought to have existed as far back as the Maurya dynasty. It is considered one of the most difficult weapons to master due to the risk of injuring oneself. It is treated as a steel whip, and therefore requires prior knowledge of that weapon. For this reason, the urumi is always taught last in Indian martial arts.

Term

The word urumi is of north Keralan origin. In the state's southern region it is more commonly called a chuttuval, from the words for coiling or spinning (chuttu) and sword (vaal). Alternative Tamil names for the weapon are surul val (curling sword) and surul katti (curling knife).

Anatomy

The urumi hilt is constructed from iron or brass and is identical to that of the talwar, complete with a crossguard and frequently a slender knucklebow. The typical handle is termed a "disc hilt" from the prominent disc-shaped flange surrounding the pommel. The pommel often has a short decorative spike-like protrusion projecting from its centre. The blade is fashioned from flexible edged steel measuring three-quarters to one inch in width. Ideally it should be the same as the wielder's armspan, usually between 4 feet to 5.5 feet. Multiple blades are often attached to a single handle. The Sri Lankan variation can have up to 32 blades and is typically dual-wielded, with one in each hand.

Urumi (disambiguation)

Urumi can refer to:

Urumi (film)

Urumi (Malayalam: ഉറുമി) is a 2011 epic Indian historical drama film directed, filmed and co-produced by Santosh Sivan and written by Shankar Ramakrishnan. It stars Prithviraj Sukumaran, Prabhu Deva, Genelia D'Souza, Amol Gupte, Jagathy Sreekumar, Nithya Menon, and Alexx O'Nell in lead roles and features Tabu, Arya and Vidya Balan in extended cameos. The soundtrack includes songs composed by Deepak Dev.

The film is set in the early 16th century, when Portuguese sailors dominated the Indian ocean. The story follows Chirakkal Kelu (Prithviraj), seeking to avenge the death of his father at the hands of the sailors, and his cohorts Vavvali of Nagapattinam (Prabhu Deva), princess Ayesha of Arackel (Genelia D'Souza) and princess Bala of Chirakkal (Nithya Menon). The plot incorporates the intrigues of the Chirakkal Royal House, where Kelu serves as Commander-in-Chief, and the assassination of prince Bhanu Vikraman (Ankur Khanna). The plot also incorporates such actual historical figures as Estêvão da Gama, Vasco da Gama and Chenichery Kurup.