Tamil Nadu: 70-year-old mason teaches 'Silambam' to 200 children

A 70-year-old man from Tamil Nadu's Rameswaram has been training over 200 children in the ancient martial art Silambam free of cost. Silambam is an ancient weapon-based martial art of Tamil Nadu, practiced in several parts of the state.

Ganapathy Murugesan, who is a mason by profession, said he earns Rs 800 daily as a mason and tres to take classes in the morning and evening 

"I run this training class for free twice a day, with the intention that this art should be passed on to our future generations," he said.

Murugesan is training the children at a time when the state is reeling under coronavirus pandemic. A total of 5,879 new COVID-19 cases and 99 deaths were reported in Tamil Nadu on Saturday, taking the state count of coronavirus cases to 2,51,738. Out of the total cases, 1,90,966 people have been discharged while 4,034 have died due to the illness.

(With ANI inputs)

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