Silat the country's best costume dramas before the genre began to decline in Malaysia after the early 2000s. Aside from period dramas, authentic silat is often featured in other genres, such as the Indonesian series "Mawar Merah" and the made-for-TV children's movie "Borobudur". In Malaysia, various styles of silat are regularly showcased in martial arts-themed documentary serials like "Mahaguru", "Gelanggang" and "Gerak Tangkas". Other instances of silat on television include the following. Silat in the literary tradition can be traced back to the old hikayat or epics which became popular as literacy spread among Southeast Asian commoners, specifically commoners from the
Silat at least the fifteenth century in Malacca. The preset forms of silambam are known as "silatguvarisai". The most popular theory in Malaysia is that it derives from "sekilat" meaning "as (fast as) lightning." Other theories derive silat from the Sanskrit "sīla" meaning morality or principle, or the Southern Chinese "saula" which means to push or perform with the hands. The Sanskrit theory is particularly popular in Thailand, as "sila" is an alternate form of the word silat in that country. Other similar-sounding words have been proposed, but are generally not considered by etymologists. One example is "si elat" which means