Mridangam

Mridangam is one of the famous musical instruments in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is an inherent element in the classical music. Apart from Tamil Nadu Mridangam is very famous in South India. Mridangam is played in concerts all over the world. Ghatam, Morsing and Kanjira always accompany Mridangam. Mridangam is very famously used with God idols. The ancient Indian sculptures have paintings and deities of Lord Ganesh and Nandi with Mridangam. Puranas say that Lord Nandi played Mridangam during the thandavas of Lord Siva. Since Mridangam was said to have been used with Gods it is widely believed that its sounds have resonated across the heaven. Hence, it is also called as the “Deva Vaadyam”, which means the “Instrument of God”.

The word Mridangam was derived from the Sanskrit words, which means “clay body”. Since the ancient Mridangam was made of clay, it was named so. However, later Mridangam faced evolutions along with humans and it is now made of fine wood and good reverberating skin. It was Mridangam that gave source to the Talas that are the inherent part of Tamil Carnatic music. Many other percussion instruments were believed to have been evoluted from Mridangam. There are other great musical instruments like tabla and drums that are said to be derived from the ancient ancestor Mridangam.

The structure if Mridangam is constructed from the wood of the Jackfruit tree. The structure is a hollow block of wood, which is made thick enough to bear the beatings of the musician. It is shaped like a drum open at both ends. These opening are covered with a thin membrane that can generate resonance. It is generally made of cow's skin or goat's skin. They are bound tight to the mouth of both ends using rope. This tightness gives high tension for the resonation. The width between the two membranes stretched is equal to that of the wooden hollow block. Since these wooden structures are not even throughout the entire space, they give different room for the membranes to vibrate. Hence, both Bass and treble are generated. This is one reason why Mridangam is so famous compared to other musical instruments. There is a smaller aperture in the Mridangam, which produces the higher pitch, and the bigger membrane gives lower pitch sounds. This smaller aperture is formed using the tuning paste, which is black in color.

Mridangam is an inherent part of the classical Tamil music adding divinity to the soul of music.

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