JOHOR BAHRU – Records are made to be broken, even ones as daring and crazy as those compiled by the good people at Guinness.

And let’s face it, we appreciate achievement – and the bigger, the better. These are the most impressive Guinness World Records of all time, from the sublime to the extremely ridiculous.

Achieving a world record is the ultimate dream for any person in the fine arts and martial arts or in any field, but for six students in Malaysia it was a dream come true for them.

The six were recently honoured and earned themselves a place in the Guinness World Records – proving their capability and even carving a name for themselves.

Kanageswari Murugan, 15, Radziatul Syafinasz Abdullah, 14, Priyanka Murugan, 17, Gan Siew Ee, 22, Santhiya Chandran, 21 and Diveneshwaran Murugan, 20 were on cloud nine upon receiving the prestigious awards.

Two of them Diveneshwaran and Gan have successfully broke the record for the longest duration to non-stop relay demonstration of Silambam ‘Porr kalai’ (Ancient Tamil Martial Arts) performed for 72 hours.

Gan is the only one who participated in both the Silambam and Bharatham competitions and securing awards for both the events.

While the other four set an impressive record in Bharatham by performing a choreographed dance online.

For all of them it was passion and dedication that were the most important elements which they have proudly displayed resulting in their notable achievement.

The boy and girls have worked tirelessly, had sleepless night practicing on a daily basis and today they have fared against other dancers and in martial arts.

The Education Welfare Research Foundation (EWRF) Johor Bahru contributed towards the six students achievements. The NGO sponsored the cost of the Bharatham and Silambam training for these students for the past eight years.

The students thanked EWRF for sponsoring their training and giving them the opportunity to participate in this event.

A word of thanks was also conveyed to their Bharatham Dance teacher Dayana Nrityodaya and Silambam trainer master Risyik Varma and Ravi Varma for providing the opportunity for these students to perform and receive appreciation from Guinness World Records and Cholon Book of Records.

They received the award at a simple ceremony held at the EWRF office in Kulai. The awards were presented to them by its JB chairman Rajendran Superamaniam. Also present was Kulai Education Centre (KEC) parents coordinator Ganggayah Appannah.

Ganggayah said he was happy for the students for receiving the awards. “It goes to show their aptitude and capability.”

“I congratulate all the students who have set this impressive Guinness World Records and this goes to show that if we want to achieve something with sheer determination we can,” he remarked.

He said it was fantastic to see young students and teenagers so enthusiastic about fine arts and martial arts.

Ganggayah said passion and dedication were the most important elements which have been displayed by these students resulting in their notable achievements.

Meanwhile Rajendran said he is so proud of the students accomplishments. “I admire the self-discipline, hard work, and support that the students have received from their parents, trainers and others to achieve their goals.”

Kanageswari said she could not believe her eyes and ears when told that she was awarded the Guinness World Record.

“I did not think I would be able to receive such a prestigious award and this came as a surprise to me,” she said.

Radziatul, the only Muslim and the youngest said she is delighted to have received this award.
“It is something I can’t believe and what more when it’s an international award,” she noted.

She stressed that her family are all overjoyed that she was selected.

Priyanka who is pursuing her SPM this year said she had to juggle between her studies and dance.

“I did not want to miss this opportunity and just gave it a try,” she claimed.

She pointed out that she had worked hard to perfect her performances, and is glad to have fare well against dancers from all over the world.

When told she was selected to receive the Guinness World Record Priyanka though it was only a dream.

Gan who comes from a Chinese-Indian parentage said it was because of her hard work and patience that led her obtaining two feathers to her cap by holding two world records.

She is the only recipient to receive two awards for Bharatham and Silambam respectively

“I went for training for almost eight years and after all these years this is the fruits of my labour,” said this diploma holder.

She said participating in – and winning – in both competitions is indeed an achievement and today it’s a reality

Diveneshwaran, the only male recipient to receive an award for Silambam said it was sheer hard work and patience that led him to obtain the Cholan Book of World Records Malaysia.

He trained for almost nine years under his trainer in Silambam.

“This esteemed award is somewhat significant to me as now I can even be a future trainer,” he said.

The Guinness World Records remains the gold standard for measuring feats of strength, endurance, and the out of this world odd.

The Guinness Book of Record maintains its track in detailing and highlighting the most incredible accomplishments of all time by those setting an impressive record.

Silambam’s main focus is on the bamboo staff. The length of the staff depends on the height of the practitioner. Ideally, it should just touch the forehead about three fingers from the head, typically measuring around 1.68 meters (five and a half feet).

Different lengths may be used depending on the situation. For instance, the sedikuchi or 3-foot stick can be easily concealed. Separate practice is needed for staffs of different lengths.

Bharatham or Bharatanatyam is traditionally a team performance art that consists of a solo dancer, accompanied by musicians and one or more singers.

It is described as classical art because the theory of musical notes, vocal performance and the dance movement reflect ideas of the Sanskrit treatise Natya Shastra and other Sanskrit and Tamil texts, such as the Abhinaya Darpana.