Photos

In ancient Hindu sculpture, painting, and mythology, the mridangam is often depicted as the instrument of choice for a number of deities including Lord Nandi (the Bull God) and Lord Ganesha (the Elephant-Headed God). Nandi was the escort and companion of Lord Shiva, and is said to have played the mridangam during Shiva's arcane Tandava dance, causing a divine rhythm to resound across the heavens. The mridangam is thus also known as "Deva Vaadyam," or "Instrument of the Gods."

The word "mridangam" is derived from the two Sanskrit words "Mrid" (clay or earth) and "Ang," (body). Early mridangams were indeed made of hardened clay. Over the years, the mridangam evolved to be made of different kinds of wood due to its increased durability, and today, its body is constructed from wood of the jackfruit tree. It is widely believed that the tabla, the mridangam's North Indian musical counterpart, was first constructed by splitting a mridangam in half. With the development of the mridangam came the evolution of the tala (rhythmic) system. The system of talas (or taalams) in South Indian Carnatic music may be the most complex percussive rhythm system of any form of classical music.

Over the years and especially during the early 20th century, great maestros of mridangam also arose, inevitably defining "schools" of mridangam with distinct playing styles. Examples include the Puddukottai school and the Thanjavur school. The virtuosos Pazhani Subramanium Pillai, Palghat Mani Iyer, and C.S. Murugabhupathy contributed so much to the art that they are often referred to as the Mridangam Trinity.There is also another style i.e., the blending of Saakotai Rangu Iyengar's and Kumbakonam Azhaganambi Pilla's taught to hundreds of disciples by the legendry Mahaguru Kumbakonam Rajappa Iyer. Other prominent mridangam maestros of today include Umayalpuram Sivaraman, T.K. Murthy, Trichy Sankaran, Guruvayur Dorai, Srimushnam Raja Rao, Karaikudi Mani, Vellore Ramabhadran, Tiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam, and Mannargudi Easwaran.

True to its humble beginnings as an instrument used in the musical processions and religious festivals, the mridangam is also used extensively within the Hare Krishna movement especially when singing and chanting in streets. It has been the drum of choice ever since the late 1400's when the movements founder called Chaitanya Mahaprabhu used the drums in a procession on the streets of Bengal. A modern fibre-glass version known as 'Balarama Mridangam' was designed in recent years as a result of this.