Mridangam is an important accompanying instrument in major Carnatic concerts. It adds treat to the listeners, coinciding with the precision in ‘thalam’. The combined Thanjavur district in general and the parts of villages in and around Tirunageswaram are more popular for the artisans who make this percussion instrument.
Many of them take the pride of their forefathers who had made the mridangam for the noted vidwans of the yesteryears.
No doubt, the artisans in villages bordering Nagapattinam and Thanjavur districts have been busy these months making the instrument. Interestingly, most of them are not familiar with playing on the instrument, although they know the nuances of making it by choosing right materials — from wood to ‘pulkattai’ and from ‘sadham’ to ‘vaar’ made of hides and skin of buffalo.
S. Selvakumar (46) one of the artisans in Tiruppanthurai an interior village near Tirunageswaram says that he could make at least 200 mridangams every half year when the sun shines. He remains jobless all through the monsoon for about six months.
“The entire percussion instrument has to be dried in sunlight. It has to be preserved from pests too, as a large volume of animal skin is used in making it,” he said.
He said that most of the artisans had migrated to Chennai where leading Sabhas patronised them through assured work on either making new mridangams or servicing the old ones.
Not much lucrative
He said that the job, though interesting as he had inherited the art from his forefathers, is not much remunerative. “Each mridangam costs anywhere around Rs.13,500 and tabla, about Rs.8,000,” he says.
He said that the state government should come forward with attractive package for their livelihood. “We need investment but no bank loan is available. We rather rely on advance sum we get from our customers,” he points out.
As for the sound effect, they said selection of raw materials plays a vital role. The artisans purchase the animal skin in Vellore tanneries are located in large number.
The ‘sadham’ or the black portion of the mridangam is made using the ‘kitchangal’ which is available in interior villages in Thanjavur district.
His forefathers had made the mridangam for the great vidwans including Palghat Mani Iyer, he says with a sense of pride.
