Tamil Nadu - Art, Culture & Heritage @ whatisindia.com

Folk Music - Introduction | Nayyandi Melam | Villu Pattu | Lavani | Kappal Pattu | Pura Pattu or Pigeon Songs | Sanku Vadyam | Kanian Attam | Musical Instruments

Introduction
The music and dance of Tamil Nadu had their beginnings in the temples. From early times, different groups of people were appointed to sing divine songs in the temple. Officers called Thevara Nayakams or leaders of the world of music, arranged the private worship of kings and group singing. Odhuvars, Sthanikars, or Kattalaiyars offer short musical programmes in the temples by singing the devotional Thevaram songs. Musicians had total reliance on divine grace. They lead the chorus in the temple congregational prayers to the accompaniment of the Sarangi. Sarangi was in use in the temples of Tamil Nadu till the end of the nineteenth century.

The temples at Madurai, Tirunelveli, Sucindram and Alwar Tirunagiri have musical pillars. Such pillars are found in the Artha Mandapam where the singing of Thevaram was accompanied by the music from the stone-pillars.

Intricacies of Folk Music
Tamil folk music is remarkable for the tala intricacies. Very ancient classical ragas or melodies like Manji, Sama, Navaroz, Kalyani, Karaharapriya, Thodi, and Nadanam-k-kria are used in the folk-songs. Many instruments are used in folk music.

Musical Notation Of Tribes
The hill-tribes have a natural fondness for music and they are known for the preservation of ancient culture. The Pulayar tribe describe their melodies as talams. According to them, their melodies are derived from the cooing of birds such as kanamayil, Kanakkozhi. Talam and melodies are named after their deities. Karaganachi talam, Mangalanada talam, Kundhanada talam, etc. are all specific melodies. The chaya of classical ragas like Sudhasaveri, Saraswathi, Sankarabharanam, Andolika, Brindavanasaranga are to be seen in these beautiful melodies. Their orchestra is known as Singaram (literally meaning beauty), consisting of two small sized Nadhaswarams or Sathathakkuzhal, two drums or melam and a pair of cymbals or Kaimani, Veelikuzhal (flute) and Maththali (a long drum) are played by them to invoke the gods. They sing while they dance. Some of their music is rudimentary only serving as a background for dance.

Melody of the Kulavai
The Kulavai sound is made by the women engaged in agricultural work with a turn of the tongue which they move swiftly side ward. The Kulavai song is sung in beautiful melody, particularly in Thanjavur where agricultural prosperity and music tradition alike have been kept up. Women stand in knee-deep slush, planting the seedlings and they raise the Kulavai sound to expedite work and to honor visitors. Anyone passing between paddy fields has to make token payments or tips to these women, if they greet him in chorus.

Nayyandi Melam
Nayyandi Melam or Chinna Melam is a rustic imitation of the classical melam or Nadaswaram and is intended purely as an accompaniment to folk-dance-drama to cater to the tastes of the unlettered audience. This orchestra consists of two Nadaswarams, two tavels, a Pambai, a Thammukku, and a pair of cymbals. The peculiarity of Nayyandi melam is that the instrumentalists also dance while playing the instrument. The troupe is in demand as an accompaniment to Karagam, Kavadi, Dummy-horse show, and gypsy-dance, popularly known as the dance of the Kuravan and Kurathi.

Villu Pattu
One of the quaint type of simple and catchy folk music, which still stands as a symbol of a cultural wealth of the Tamils, is popularly known as Villu Pattu in Tamil, literally translated as 'bow-song'. In the fifteenth century, one Arasa Pulavar is said to have originated the Villu Pattu. The materials that go to make up the orchestra producing the background music for the bow-song consist of a very big bow made either of a sturdy branch of the palmyra tree or of metal. The two ends of the bow are tied by a strong high tension string. The centre of the convex side of the bow is made to rest on the neck of a large sized earthen pitcher. The pitcher itself rests on a soft cushion or a circular disc like thing with a concave cavity made of coconut fibre. Thus the bow, when placed on the neck of the pitcher and held in delicate balance by the performers, looks like a magnified crescent with its two ends looking upwards. There are numerous bronze bells hanging from the bow in a row from top to bottom.

The chief vocalist or the main story teller of the party will be seated in the centre of the bow, with two slender wooden rods called the Veesukol, one in each hand . At the end of each rod, just near where the artist grip it are found two cymbals, the concave face of each facing and touching the other. It makes a sort of cavity containing beads or small sized metal balls or stones inside. The artist, while singing well, artfully raises and moves his hands, holding the rods as to express the mood and the bhava portrayed in song, and deftly strike against the bow string producing the tala or the time beat, synchronizing it with the stresses and the time beats in the song. This will produce notes from the bells hanging from the bow. At the same time, the artist in charge of the big earthen pitcher will raise simultaneous notes, by beating against the mouth of the pitcher with a cardboard-like plate made for the purpose from a stiff and sturdy plantain sheath. The sweet sound emanating from the pitcher will seem to come from within the pitcher owing to the pressure exerted on it both by the weight of the bow, resting on its neck and the beats brought to bear on its mouth by the pitcher player. It is perhaps more charming and melodious than that produced by any other percussion instrument like Mridhangam, Dholak' Khole and Kanchira. The pitcher player while he strikes against the mouth of the pitcher with his right hand, strikes at the same time on the body of the pitcher with a piece of coin held in his left hand.

There is another percussion instrument called Udukku, which the player holds in a horizontal position while playing . A second member in the party will keep tala with the aid of small wooden pieces called the Kashta. A third member will play the cymbals. When the bow-song programme is in full swing, there is a perfect co-ordination of music in which the bow, the bell and the percussion instruments operate together each producing by itself and in combination, vigorous and fast moving music in keeping with the moods of the ballad. When the chief vocalist sings, the others play on their instruments and when the others sing the chief vocalist plays the veesukol on the string of the bow. After the main story teller completes a line of the song, the persons accompanying on Udukku and other instruments will repeat the last phrase of the line or they will say in chorus 'aama', 'aama' and raise certain other sounds to denote arrangements.

The spirited gestures and movements of the bow-song members have so much life and enthusiasm that the simple village folk who constitute the audience abandon themselves in their enjoyment. The performance usually occurs in connection with the temple festival lasting for about a week between September and January. The dais of the performance will be setup in front of the temple on one side and the audience will be seated on the ground facing the deity. The bow song troupe usually consist of eight members. The duration of the programme will depend largely on the length of the story chosen for rendering. If the episode portrayed is a small one, it will be finished in one session itself. On the other hand, if the theme is mythological it will be of much long duration. Stories from the Ramayana or the Mahabharata will require a number of sessions lasting three or four days. The leader of the troupe is generally a shrewd judge of audience psychology and knows well how, where, and when he should allow an interval in the course of a folk ballad.

The texts of the song are simple and flowing and are invariably in ballad style, couched in rural dialect and abounding in proverbs. Almost every couplet or stanza ends with a refrain. As soon as the chief vocalist in the party finishes singing a couplet or a stanza, the other members of the party take up refrain and sing it in chorus. The stories are woven round supernatural, mythological, devotional, historical and social themes. Appeasement of wicked spirits and the gods, human sacrifices, gruesome and horror-striking situations and many other weird things figure in these stories. The main idea is to illustrate the triumph of good over evil.

Some features
Apart from the variety of themes and stories, another very interesting feature in the Villu Pattu art is the ex-tempore debate in verse. The party divides itself into two groups. The main singer with the veesukol, those who sing with him and the two man who keep tala by playing on the Kastha and the cymbals form one group. While the 'pitcher player' 'Udukku player' and those who sing with them form another group. The first group of persons singing on the right hand side are called the rightists (Valathe padupavar) and those who sing on the left hand side will be called the leftists (Idathe padupavar). The rightists will compose verses on the spot in a particular tune. The subject matter of the verses may be anything under the sun, on vedanta, or siddhanta mysticism, philosophy or theology. The verses of the rightists contain a series of questions and the leftists answer them in verse of the same metre and tune as those employed by the rightists.

Lavani
Lavani is a musical discussion. It has something in common with the bow-song. It is performed in the months of April-May to herald the coming of spring chiefly in Thanjavur district, the culturally important areas in Tiruchirappalli district and in Madurai district.

One team argues that Manmatha or Kaman, the god of love was burnt to death by lord Shiva and that it was a physical act reducing him to ashes. The other team argues that it was an allegory. What was burnt was Kama or Carnal desire and maintains that Kaman never died and that he has ingrained himself in the heart of countless souls. In counter-arguments and rebuttals, ideas or religion and ethics are put forward to the accompaniment of drum music provided by each of the singers in the group. References are made to the Puranas and the Shastras. The performance lasts a whole night and groups of singers treat the crowd to great entertainment by their fluency of thought and speech. At the end of the Lavani performance, a replica of Manmathas mount is burnt. The earlier and original Kaman pandigai of the Tamils is said to have consisted of dirge songs in front of a symbolical representation of Manmatha.

Kappal Pattu
Kappal Pattu or Padagap Pattu is a boat-song, sung by travelers in chorus to overcome the fear of tides and to prevent the monotony of travel on lakes and rivers.

Pura Pattu
Pura Pattu or pigeon-songs have been sung in Tamil from the eleventh century. Its favorite theme is love. A love sick maiden addresses animals and birds and natural objects like the plough and the wind to inform her lover about her love sick condition.

Sanku Vadyam
The conch or Sanku is an object of veneration for the folk. Music is produced from a conch to which a silver pipe is attached. The end of the pipe serves as the mouth-piece. The pipe does not contain any air-holes. The player produces the required sound by skillfully adjusting the volume and pressure of the air that he/she blows through the pipe. The sound so produced resembles the combined sound of a clarinet and mukaveena (mouth organ). In Palani, members of a family of traditional Pandarams play on the conch certain characteristic musical lines to the accompaniment of percussion instruments. Regular music concerts also are given on the conch. For this purpose the conch used is called Dhavala Chank. It has an extra fitting 5" pipe connected to the mouth piece of the conch. It is played entirely through the skillful control of the air blown through the conch.

The conch-shell is used as a musical instrument in the fields. It is believed by the folk that this music will help to increase production. This view is now shared by some scientists as well.

Kanian Attam
This consist of descriptive folk songs sung by two buffoons- a man and a woman, even as they are walking. Therefore there is no stage for this performance. This one-act play is on the decline, even in the temple, of the local goddesses.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

Percussion Instruments
Nagara is a large hemispherical kettle-drum used in temples, struck with two curved sticks and carried on a decorated elephant. It is played before and after making important announcements.

Damaram is a conical instrument with a shell of wood and braces of leather, placed on a bullock and played with two sticks, one of them curved and other straight.

Membra Phones
Udukki is an instrument held in the left hand and played by the finger of the right hand. It is used in all folk temples and is an emblem of Shiva. Davandai is a large Udukki and is played with a stick.

Gummati is a pot-shaped drum held in horizontal posture while playing.

Ekkalam is an s-shaped horn played with the trumpet and the drum.

Pambai is a pair of colored and painted cylindrical drums used in temple festivals.

Reference:
http://www.webindia123.com/

Home Page

Archives | Links | Search
About Us | Feedback | Guestbook