Maduvu

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Maduvu" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The Maduvu, also known as a maru or madu, is a weapon from India. It is one of the many weapons used in the Tamil martial art Silambam.^[1]

More commonly known as a madu, it is also referred to as a maan kombu after the deer horns from which it is traditionally made, specifically those of the Indian blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra).^[2] A madu is treated like a double-bladed dagger. It typically consists of two blackbuck horns pointing in opposite directions connected by two crossbars which also act as a handle. Silambam experts use this weapon to confront opponents in various ways, both defensive and offensive.

Later variations were often tipped with steel and sometimes fitted with a plate of leather or steel to act as a shield. In Punjab, a madu is typically constructed entirely of steel. A similar weapon, consisting of a handle mounted on an antelope horn, was used as a crutch, and served as a self-defense implement for the jogi, who were forbidden by their order to carry conventional weaponry.^[3]