The domain of the ‘Ancient Indian Martial Arts’ has been widely admired by the world. It was religiously practised in India where the youth attained lessons of the ‘Balvidya’ as a tradition, and hence, no enemy dared to cast an evil eye on the nation. However, gradually, the importance of the Indian Balvidya depleted, resulting in its complete disappearance. If revived again, the Balvidya will not only restore the prestige of our nation but will also help reinstate the golden era that India had once been known for.

Hence, Dr Aniruddha Dhairyadhar Joshi has taken up the task to revive the techniques of the forgotten Ancient Indian Martial Arts. He is himself an exponent of these ancient Indian martial art forms. These techniques include Mudgal Vidya, Suryabhedan Vidya, Ashva Vidya and Yashwanti Malla Vidya, to name a few.

Till date, more than 650 men have been trained and some of them have been qualified as trainers too. In order to facilitate systematic training, a textbook on Ancient Indian Martial Arts has been published under the guidance of Dr Aniruddha Joshi.

AHILYA SANGH:

Ahilya Sangh is an initiative taken by Dr Aniruddha Joshi in October 2002 for helping the women realise their buried potential and their strength which they could utilise at an individual, familial, societal and national level. Its aim is to build up self-confidence in women and also encourage them to lend a helping hand to other ladies when they face similar situations.

In today’s world, it has become very essential for a woman to defend herself in an unexpected and untoward situation.

She may have to face difficult circumstances in terms of safety while travelling in public transport, walking on roads, in offices and even in her own home. For dealing with this on her own, she needs to make herself capable at a physical, mental and emotional level.

Throughout this training, women are taught to do ‘Suryanamaskar’, several exercises, hand and wrist movements- Hastalaghav, Hastakaushalya, Mushtilaghav, Mudgalvidhya. The training is free of cost. Twenty-three batches featuring 1574 women have completed their training so far.

Ahilya Sangh also contributes to other devotional community services like tree plantation drives, Suryanamaskar camps and Vatsalyachi Ubb seva.