Kudukka Vina

RESONANCE HISTORY & CULTURE

Under the spotlight

M LALITHA AND NANDINI

AUGUST 24, 2017 16:48 IST

UPDATED: AUGUST 24, 2017 16:50 IST

Kudukka veena, originally played only in temples, has shifted to the concert stage

We had just finished performance at PN Sivaramakrishnan Sri Tirumeni Guruji’s 400-year-old Siva temple in Chippleri near Punjapadam, Palakkad. Then it was our turn to listen to an instrument, a rare on at that.

Made from two coconut shells and played with a stick, its sound and appearance were unique. The single-stringed Kudukka veena is an ancient instrument of Kerala.

Half a coconut shell, which is the resonator, is placed on the left shoulder and kept in position by a cloth belt called kacha. The shell is covered by fine leather at the centre of which is a small hole. At the lower end is the full shell (kudukka). A wooden rod, called the korada/perada, passes diametrically through the eye of the kudukka and a string is attached to it. This is tied onto the Korada which is inserted through the hole in the leather. Sometimes both shells are painted and decorated.

String matters

Regarding the strings, sometimes those of the Vina Tala Kambi or guitar are used. According to Thrikkampuram Sri Jayandevan Marar, son of the late Thrikkampuram Krishnankutty Marar, kudukka veena is more than 300 years old.

This instrument is played by strumming the string using the eerkkili, which is the thin rod from the coconut palm leaf. Sometimes the thin stem of a peacock feather is is also used.

The different notes are produced by adjusting the tension of the string. The tension is varied through pressure on the lower shell.

It is a difficult instrument to play, and requires practice. Notes cannot be sustained on it for long. One practises this instrument before learning to play the edakka. Like the ‘pulimutti’ for chenda and ‘sravanappalaka’ for maddalam, kudukka veena is basically a simulator of edakka.

Rakesh Kammath, who plays the kudukka veena, says, “This instrument used to accompany sopana singing during pujas in temples.” Sopana Sangeetham is sung, traditionally by men belonging to the Ambalavasi community, by the side of the holy steps (sopanam) leading to the sanctum sanctorum of a shrine. It is generally performed when the neivedyam is offered to the deity.

The last master

Apparently, the kudukka veena was later replaced by the edakka. Both the instruments can produce melody/swarams along with rhythm/talam.

The legendary Thrikkampuram Krishnankutty Marar was one of the last masters of this instrument, and some of his disciples play this instrument.

Jayandevan Marar said, “It was my father who brought this instrument back to the forefront.” His predecessors, who could play on this rare instrument were Vadakkedath Appu Marar (Krishnankutty Marar’s guru) and Thazhathedath Govinda Marar. By presenting kudukka veena recitals, accompanied by violin and mridangam, during the 1990s, he introduced this instrument to the concert stage. Sometimes the edakka is added as an accompaniment. Currently, some artistes use a pickup to amplify its sound.

Kudukka veena is no longer used in temples but is played at performances and social events. Some of its performers include Uramana Rajan Marar, Kavil Sundaram Marar, Rakesh Kammath, Kottaram Sangeet Marar and Kavil Unnikrishnan.

Writers honoured

Violinists M. Lalitha and M. Nandini were honoured recently with the Chennai Awards for 2017 by the Chennai 2000 Plus Trust in association with the Department of Museum and Archaeology, Government of Tamil Nadu. The award was presented in recognition of their services to the cause of Carnatic music.

The writers are well-known Carnatic musicians.

http://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/how-a-temple-musical-instrument-has-moved-to-concert-stage/article19552989.ece

News Today 24th Aug 2017

https://www.newstodaynet.com/index.php/2017/08/24/plea-to-save-rare-temple-musical-instruments/

Plea to save rare temple musical instruments

 NT Bureau  August 24, 2017  0

Chennai: What kept ringing in one’s ears after a lecture by violin duo M Lalitha and M Nandini as part of the Chennai Maadham Festival organised by the Chennai 2000 Plus Trust here on Wednesday was their plaintive cry to save rare musical instruments used in temples.

The siblings, well-known violinists in music circles, had been granted a project by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, to do research on rare and vanishing instruments. Though that was just a year’s project, once they started on the mission, they could not put the brakes on their enthusiasm.

“We started out on the government project but later found that there was so much more to do. So, we are continuing the research out of our own passion. Now, every time we visit a temple, instead of heading for the sanctum sanctorum our eyes seek out the musical instrument player to get some information about the instrument and its history,” laughs Lalitha.

The audio-visual PowerPoint presentation at Tamil Valagam brought to light the importance of music in temple worship. “In fact, the rituals in a temple are believed to be incomplete without the accompaniment of a musical instrument,” explains Nandini.

They dealt with four kinds of instruments – stringed, wind, percussion and ones that are metallic and need to be struck – like the cymbals.
There were interesting names like Ekkalam, Bari Mani, Kidikatti, Makudam, Gettuvadhyam, Davandai, Brahma Talam, Damaram, Danga, Nagar, Tutti, Tiruchinnam and many more.

According to the sisters, they found during their research that covered almost 250 temple instruments, it is possible to save some instruments as they are still played during rituals. In other temples they are there but there is no one to play them as the skill has not been passed on to the next generation. In some other temples, there are no instruments and the ones that are available have to be repaired. The sad part is nobody knows how to do it.

The researchers also found private trusts taking an interest to preserve some instruments, as in the case of Srirangam where a business family ensures that all the rare instruments are played regularly during rituals.

Their plea is for the government to take steps to save the surviving instruments and ensure they are taken to the coming generations.

PLAY IT ON

Some of the rare instruments mentioned by Lalitha and Nandini make for interesting read: Ekkalam: Wind instrument. Though made of copper, Srirangam temple has twin Ekkalams made of silver. It is still played in Thanjavur Big Temple. Bari Mani: Two bells attached to two ends of a pole. The walking rhythm of the person carrying it, creates the musical sound. Tutti: Tamilnadu’s answer to the bagpipe. But there is none to play it now. Thudumbu: A percussion instrument peculiar to the Coimbatore belt. Danga: A couple of percussion instruments tied to either side of a horse. This is still played in Kanchi Varadaraja Perumal temple on special occasions.

Bari Mani

Chimes played during nagarasankirtanam

On a Purattasi Saturday afternoon, as we were rendering the kriti ‘O, Rangasayee’ the immortal composition of Saint Tyagaraja on Lord Ranganatha, we were immersed in the beauty of the kriti and its beautiful phrase in the charanam – ‘Bhooloka Vaikuntam.’ Our thoughts raced back to the Ranganathar temple at Srirangam, which inspired Tyagaraja to compose such a masterpiece in raga Khambodi.

The shrine, which is regarded the foremost in the eight self-manifested shrines of Lord Vishnu, houses many rare musical instruments that are used while performing the temple rituals.

One such is the Bari Mani bell, which belongs to the category of idiophones or metallic variety that comes under the group of hand percussion instruments.

It is said that Bari Mani is a favourite of Lord Siva and Goddess Kali and that the people belonging to the Nazhimanikarar community used to sing songs on the Lord during their nagarasankirtanam and the performers who wield the bells/mani will receive paddy inside these bells, the quantity of which equals the quantity of the Nazhi and hence these performers are called Nazhimanikarar. The instrument with such legendary aspect is now used only at the Srirangam temple. After the Artha jama puja, the Barimani, Bari Maddhalam and talam performers perform and go around the Chithirai veedhi adjoining the temple to announce the devotees that the day’s rituals have ended. This is known as Bari valam. Bari Mani, which is carried on the shoulder like the ‘kavadi,’ is an open-mouthed bell made up of brass attached to a long block of teak wood on either side. It is fastened to the wooden log in such a way that when the performers walk with them on their shoulders it automatically reverberates and produces a pleasant tone and in order to get the nadam its mouth is slightly narrowed down. This practice has been in vogue for many years though in between it became a rare phenomenon due to the increase in the number of devotees and space constraint where the performers found it difficult to walk all the way. But now this practice has been revived, thanks to the efforts of the TVS Group.

(The writers are classical violinists and researchers.)

http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/history-and-culture/chimes-played-during-nagarasankirtanam/article8223223.ece

Tuntuna

http://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/music/on-the-tuntuna-trail/article19316630.ece

The single-stringed instrument is an integral part of Maharashtra’s folk culture

During a trip to Mumbai for a concert, we visited our cousin in Thane. There we witnessed a procession of the deity Amba Devi, where Gondhalis dressed in red, wearing a head gear decorated with shells (some had peacock feathers), danced to the accompaniment of drums and a one-stringed folk instrument called tuntuna.

Usually found in rural parts of the country among the Bhil, Kukna, Gondhal and Warli communities, the tuntuna is also used for devotional music, ballards and lavanis. Known as tuntina or tuntuni and chohokhode, it comes under two categories: Tata vadyas or chordophones of the plucked variety and sruti vadyas or stringed drone instrument, as it sounds the key note or the main tonic note.

The Gondhalis, who are professional musicians, play this instrument. They seek alms by singing and dancing in honour of their deities, Renuka and Bhavani to the accompaniment of the drum, cymbals and tuntuna. The instrument is also played by gypsies.

Single note drone

The tuntuna is further classified under the single note drones that produces only one note, which is the adhara shadja or the tonic note. The string is usually tuned to the main key of the performer or sometimes to a higher octave (tonic/shadja).

The tuntuna has a hollow wooden or metal cylinder and a parchment covers the lower part of this instrument. A stick fixed to the cylinder has a tuning peg at the top. A metal string is tied to a small stick, which passes through a copper coin and a hole in the centre of the parchment and this is fastened to the tuning peg. Peacock feathers are used to decorate the top of the stick sometimes.

Tuntuna is an integral part of the folk theatre form of Maharashtra called Tamasha, which combines music and dance. Dolki and manjeera are the other instruments used. The tuntuna players (also known as the tuntunawala) sing the refrain or chorus after the main singer, like in the ballad form powada, which is an older form of narrative singing. The powada was performed by the Gondhalis. The tuntunawala holds the instrument in his right hand and plucks the string with the nail of his index finger.

The instrument is played in honour of Devi Bhavani and at marriages. On this occasion, five Gondhali men dance after praying to the deity and her beloved Siva. Then they perform an invocation to Khandoba and other gods, after which, stories from the Ramayana and other mythologies are narrated with singing and dancing. The performance ends in the early hours of the morning.

Tuntuna, cymbals and sambal are also a part of the Gondhal, a religious practice that is also an important folk art form of Maharashtra.

Among the different global musical cultures, there are similar instruments such as the Cung of East Africa, Tushuenkin of China and Bau of Vietnam, which are known as monochords.

The writers are well known Carnatic musicians

Pambai

Pambai

Dr M Lalitha and M Nandini

Pambai, a pair of drums, is an integral part of folk ensembles and temple festivals.

The inspiration for this week’s column came from the festival at our father’s native place Madurai. We offered prayers to our Kuladeivam and witnessed the temple festival, where they played the twin drums. Fascinated by its sound we decided to know more about the instrument.

The instrument is known as Pambai/Pampai, which is a pair of drums cylindrical in shape. Also known as Pamba, this instrument with four faces, conjoined and kept one on top of the other, comes under the category of the Avanaddha Vadyas. In the pair, the longer one having a deeper tone is known as the Periya (big) Kottu while the smaller one, the Siriya (small) Kottu.

Different materials are used to make this instrument. The Periya Kottu is made of maram or wood and is also referred to as the Veeru Vanam while the Siriya Kottu is made of Vengalam or brass and is also known as the Vengala Pambai. In some simpler varieties, both the instruments are made of wood. Both the heads are covered with goat skin, attached to a wooden ring with holes through which pass cords joining both faces.

Periya kottu is around 18 inches in length while Siriya Kottu is around 15 inches. As the performers tie this instrument to their waist, they feel comfortable playing them in a standing position. It is also sometimes played in a sitting posture.

The Pambai is played with a stick and sometimes with both stick and hand. Set to a fixed pitch, slow, fast and complex rhythm patterns are produced.

Pambai is used in village temple festivals, as part of an ensemble of folk instruments and as an accompaniment for karagam, poi kal kudhirai, mayilattam and kavadi performances. It is an important instrument used during the thiruvizha in Madurai Thalaiyari Gurunathan temple and Ayyanarpuram for Goddess Angala Parameswari. It is one of the important instruments played during the Panguni Uthiram festival in Palani, held during the month of March. The Pambalas community of southern Andhra Pradesh are said to be the experts in playing this instrument.

Mention about this instrument has been made in the Sangam literature, where the sound of the Pambai is compared to that of the hound dogs.

In the book titled ‘Alaya Vazhipaatil Isai Karuvigal’ by Kausalya R., there is an interesting story associated with the instrument. It is mentioned that during the reign of King Tirumalai Nayakar, an artist called Andi was playing this instrument on the path frequented by the king; hanging it upside down from a tree .

When the king asked Andi why he was playing the instrument in a peculiar way, he replied that there was no place to dry the skin of Pampai. The king pointed towards a rock, now known as Andi Parai, for the purpose.

This instrument is on the verge of extinction. Measures need to be taken to save this musical tradition.

http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/music/Double-impact/article15472362.ece

Kingri

Gethuvadyam

When strings produce rhythmic beats

Dr M Lalitha and M Nandini

Gethuvadyam has close links to Avudayarkoil.

Pudukottai has been our favourite destination for two reasons: This is where the adhistanam of Sri Judge Swamigal is. He is our spiritual guru Sri Santhananda Swamigal’s parama guru. The temple of Goddess Bhuvaneswari is also located here.
During one of our trips, we visited the famous Avudayarkoil, where we heard about the instrument gethuvadyam.
Earlier, while doing research on rare musical instruments , we had come across this one.
Gethuvadyam (also known as getchuvadyam or gettuvadyam) is a string instrument that comes under the category of chord /stringed percussion and is today played by only a few musicians. A hammered lute, the gethuvadyam resembles the tambura and veena. It is about 2-3 ft long having a neck with four strings and is fretless. It has a spheroid-shaped kudam with a flat bottom. There is a fixed bridge set at the chest of the kudam through which the strings pass. A mobile bridge is inserted at the requisite place on the left side of the trunk to obtain sthayi sruti. The gethuvadyam has no suraikkudukkai. The yaali of the gethuvadyam faces upwards and serves as a pad to ensure that the instrument rests firmly on the ground.
The strings are made up of metal. The four strings are attached to the biradais or the pegs for tightening or loosening the strings at the top, while there are beads for the micro tuning near the bridge.
The strings are tuned to the madhya sthayi shadjam, anumandra sthayi shadjam, anumandra sthayi panchama and tara sthayi shadjam.
It is played with two bamboo mallets or sticks having two handles. These sticks are well chiselled. The metallic ring has a couple of small balls attached inside and gives a jingling effect.
Of the two mallets, one is short and the other long. The short left stick strikes all the strings simultaneously and usually at the middle of the trunk. It produces regular rhythmic beats. The right stick is chiselled as a flat spatula and produces complex rhythmic beats.
According to Auvudayarkoil Subramanyam, exponent of the gethuvadyam, limited and measured jingle, with the finely tuned string base, brings out the proper sruti melakattu .
In concerts, it is performed along with the mridangam.

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There is a legend behind this instrument. It is said that the king of Thanjavur along with his men went on a sethu yatra and visited Avudayarkoil (this is also known as Tiruperundurai). The temple is unique as both Sri Athmanathar and his consort Yogambigai are in the Arupa or formless nature. Here, Siva is represented by ‘Avudayar’. Since the goddess Yogambikai is said to be in meditation, no instruments, (not even nagaswaram) were allowed only from the second prakaram. The Thanjavur king and his retinue were received by the king of Ramnad Sethu Samasthanam.The king was accompanied by two singers, who sang and also played the gethuvadyam.
Apparently, one night a small girl came in the dream of both the kings. She said that the Thanjavur singers’ music was conducive to meditation and wanted them to continue singing in the shrine accompanied by their instruments, the gethuvadyam and veena.
The Thanjavur king made the singers stay permanently in the temple to sing and play the gethuvadyam. Hence, gethuvadyam came to be the only instrument allowed inside the inner prakaram of the temple and the tradition continues. And the gethuvadyam came to be associated with the Goddess. This instrument with the patronage of the Sethupathis (rulers of Ramnad) were brought on to the concert platform later on.
It is said that Harikatha exponent Ennapadam Venkitaramana Bhagavathar’s father Padmanabha Iyer and his grandfather were experts in singing the kritis of Tyagaraja and Muthuswami Dikshitar to the accompaniment of gethuvadyam, which they played themselves.
It is sad that there are few who play this instrument today. The good thing is that Avudayarkoil Subramaniam has been teaching a few students to play it. But greater effort is required to sustain this tradition.
(The writers are well known Carnatic musicians)

As the gethuvadyam is performed in the Yogambikai sannadhi, it became associated with the Goddess.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-fridayreview/When-strings-produce-rhythmic-beats/article17156727.ece#!