The most crucial endorsement during a festival is the music accompanying the art forms to create an aura that transfers us to an entertainment zone of mind. One such accompanying music is called chenda melam, which is also an art form that has been in existence for almost 300 years in Kerala. Though there are changes from the traditional performance, the newer addition of instruments and music accompanying chenda the aura remains still prevalent. This performance is found on almost all occasions in Kerala, but the temple festivals hold a remarkable significance to it. It also has a luring capacity, which is scientifically proven.
Origin
Chenda Melam is a traditional percussion instrument that has been an integral part of the culture and festivals of Kerala for 300 centuries. It is mostly performed by using a chenda, a cylindrical drum covered with animal skin and a stick made of bamboo. This orchestra is also prominent in various art performances like kathakali, koodiyattam, etc. The chenda melam is also part of Kshetravadyams, which are the musical influences in worship associated with Temples. The chenda is used as a solo as well as an accompanying instrument. The Chenda Melams of Kerala has a well-disciplined orchestra of five instruments, viz. Chenda-Edamthana & Valanthala, Kombu, Kuzhal and Elathalam . Melams are percussion wonders.
Hundreds of artists are linked in unison through synchronized beats of sticks, cymbals and sounds of music from pipes, performing non-stop for hours. It has traditionally been considered a temple musical instrument and has been associated with the upper-caste Marar and Poduval communities. Though originally from Kerala, it is also widely used in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. In Tulu, it is called ‘Chende’.
Chenda
The Body of a chenda is usually made of wood from the Indian laburnum or jack tree, which is scrapped into a wooden cylinder of a thickness of 2 cm, and both ends are tapered to a thickness of 1.8 cm. The length of the cylinder is 51.75 cm, and the outer diameter is 28.1. The rings on both sides are made of strong bamboo strips, and the parched skin is tucked into it. The rings project about 6 cm from the edges and have an outer diameter of 43.12 cm. There are 12 equidistant holes along the inner circumference of the ring through which the skin is connected. The skin used can be of cow, bull, buffalo or deer. The rope of length about 14.4 m made of common flax is wound through the holes. The flax plant is dried, and the fibres are extracted from it. Sixteen threads are paired and twined into four. These four threads are entwined into a single rope. The rope is tied by using a ring of 6 cm outer diameter to facilitate the adjustment of tension. The tuning of the instrument is achieved by the tightening of the rope. The sticks used for playing the drum are made of sappanwood, bamboo or tamarind. A typical stick is cylindrical with a decreasing cross-section towards the playing end. It is about 39 cm long with a base diameter of 2.2 cm and 8 mm at the tip. The kacha is a long folded cloth piece of about 3.5 m in length, tied to the sides of the drum to suspend it from the shoulder of the player. This creates a Chenda.
Forms of Chendamelam
There are 7 types of “melam” Panchari melam, Champa, Chempada, Adantha, Anchadatha, Druvam and Pandy melam. The earlier 6 melams are called “Chempada melangal”. Other than these seven “melams”,” two more melams are there in Kerala “, Navam” and “Kalpam”.
1. Panchari Melam is a percussion ensemble performed during temple festivals in Kerala. Panchari Melam (o, simply, panchari) is one of the major forms of chenda melam and is the best-known and most popular kshetra vadhyam (temple percussion) genre. Panchari melam, comprising instruments like chenda, ilathalam, kombu and kuzhal, is performed during virtually every temple festival in central Kerala, where it is arguably presented most classically.
2. Pandi melam is a full-length Pandi, a melam based on a thaalam with seven beats, lasts more than two-and-a-half hours and is canonically performed outside temples. It has four stages, each of them with rhythmic cycles (thaalavattam) totalling 56, 28, 14 and seven, respectively. The most celebrated Pandi Melam is staged inside a temple compound at the Vadakkunnathan shrine’s precincts in the central Kerala town of Thrissur. For the last several years, Peruvanam Kuttan Marar has been the lead conductor for this symphony of drums known as Elanjithara Melam.
3. Thayambaka or tayambaka is a type of solo chenda performance that developed in the south Indian state of Kerala, in which the main player at the centre improvises rhythmically on the beats of half a dozen or a few more chenda and ilathalam players around. A thayambaka performance on the chenda thus has its focus on the stick-and-palm rolls produced on the itantala (treble) of the chenda, while the rhythm is laid by his fellow instrumentalists on the valanthala (bass) chendas. It begins at a slow pace before scaling on to a medium tempo and eventually culminating in high, frenzied speed. Here, improvisations can be made.
Rhythmic Structure of Melam
There are various rhythmic structures to perform chenda melam, panchari melam and pandi melam in different tempos. One such is given below, and attached is an audio of a normal chenda melam performed in a temple.
Panchari – First Tempo
The Thaalaghatana- the rhythmic structure of the first Kaalam has 12 X 8 = 96 Aksharas. After the Kaalamital with one hand, one Chempata is played each time. The Thaalam is being maintained on the Valanthala, the Vaythaari- the vocal equivalent is given below:
1) dhi-dhi-dhi-dhi-dhi-dhi-dhi (pothippitikkunnu- controlled beating)
2) dhi-dhi-dhi X dhi-dhi-dhi X
3) dhi-dhi-dhi X dhi-dhi-dhi X
4) dhi-dhi-dhi-dhi dhim-dhim-dhim-dhim-dhim (thurannu –open beats)
5) dhi-dhi-dhi-dhi-dhi-dhi-dhi
6) dhi-dhi-dhi-dhi dhim-dhim-dhim-dhim-dhim
7) dhi-dhi-dhi-dhi-dhi-dhi-dhi8) dhi-dhi-dhi-dhi dhim-dhim-dhim-dhim-dhim
9) dhi-dhi-dhi-dhi-dhi-dhi-dhi10) dhi-dhi-dhi-dhi dhim-dhim-dhim-dhim-dhim
11) dhim X X –dhim X X –dhim X X –dhim X X
12) dhim X –dhim X -dhim-dhim-dhim-dhim
Famous Melam Artists
There are many Chenda artists in Kerala; the most prominent among them is Sankara Narayanan or Peruvanam Kuttan Marar. He is also called the ‘Chenda Maestro. He received Padma Shri, India’s third highest civilian award, in 2011 for his contributions to the field of art. Apart from him, there are some other maestros too like the Mattannoor Sankarankutty Marar, Kizhakkoottu Aniyan Marar, Pallavoor Maniyan Marar: Known for his thimila playing, Pallavoor Kunjukuttan Marar: Brother of Pallavoor Maniyan Marar, known for his command over thimila, chenda and edakka, Kuzhur Narayanan Marar and Cherussery Kuttan Marar.
Current Status
The chendamelam is an unavoidable art form in the culture and daily life of the people in Kerala. Now a mix of chenda and modern instruments are used with great precision in both temples and other occasions. As well participation of women in chendamelam has increased br, breaking the gender norms and becoming financially independent, this type of chendamelam is often called Shingkari melam.
Sources
- Menon, V. A. (2024). Chenda: The Talking Drum of Kerala. Society and Culture in South Asia, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/23938617241292873
- Kerala tourism