Paika akhada
Odia warrior training of the paikas with the khanda sword and shield, now performed to drumbeats at festivals.
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About Paika akhada
Paika akhada is an Odia term that can be loosely translated as warrior gymnasium. The word paika comes from the Odia padatika, meaning infantry, and akhada denotes a training ground or school. Behind the tradition stood the paikas, land-holding armed men who served kings and came mostly from the Khandayat, Chasa, and Gopal castes; the very name Khandayat means one who wields the sword, since it combines khanda, sword, with ayata, wielding. The paikas were divided into three ranks: the prahari were sword-bearing defenders, the banua were skilled archers, and the dhenklia carried sword and shield and fought in the front line. Their military strength was already relied upon by the ancient Kalinga king Kharavela, and they reached their peak under the Gajapati dynasty. Training uses the khanda sword, the patta, a sword fused with a gauntlet, along with sticks and shields. Displays combine rhythmic movement with drumbeats, acrobatic elements, and practice combat with wooden swords and shields. After the arrival of the East India Company the tradition was suppressed. In 1817 a former commander, Jagabandhu Bidyadhar Mohapatra Rai, led an uprising of the paikas in which four hundred men took part; they occupied southern Odisha, but the uprising was crushed within a year. The art was long reserved for men, a barrier broken only by Soubaghini Debi, the first woman among its performers. Today paika akhada is displayed at the Dasahara and Kalinga Mahotsav festivals, and the government of Odisha has proposed setting up its own academy in Gajapati district to preserve this increasingly rare art.
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