Making of Mridangam-A dying craft: V. Jwala Narasimha Rao

Making of Mridangam-A dying craft

V. Jwala Narasimha Rao

Published in AP Times on 24^th July 1996

MRIDANGAM is a much needed percussion instrument in the south. The making of it needs along with the craft, a thorough knowledge of Sruti and Laya. With only a couple of competent Mridangam instrument makers having a musical ear in the state, the handicraft is losing its makers, according to a study conducted by Andhra Pradesh Handicrafts Development Corporation. B. Parvatala Rao, based on his documentation of the craft strongly feels, that Mridangam making now is certainly A LANGUISHING CRAFT. THIS ANCIENT ART IS UNDER THE THREAT OF BEING ISOLATED TO SINK WITHOUT A TRACE. Dasari Rama Mohan Rao, an artisan from Tenali says, even giving training to youngsters would not provide an answer by itself, unless, some confidence is created in the trainees, that, by pursuing the craft they will be able to make out a living. The documentation report prepared by Parvatala Rao dealt in detail about the origin, evolution, and various stages in making Mridangam and also the reasons for its languishing.

APHDC with the financial assistance of Government of India, through the development commissioner (handicrafts) has undertaken documentation of old, rate and languishing handicrafts of the state. Mridangam was identified as one such handicraft, the others being Telia Rumal of Chirala, leather puppetry, making of veena, Cherial scroll paintings and the tribal Dokra castings.

‘Almost all the existing main musical instruments can be traced to various devices of primitive man, who tried to make musical sounds different from his own voice and Mridangam was one of them’ says Parvatala Rao. A piece of original hide which struck on the cavity of a tree produced the sound of a thud, when struck with sticks by the primitive man and that was the origin of this type of an instrument. Mridangam is described as the most highly developed and the most ancient of all percussion instruments and used in south as an accompaniment to the vocal and instrumental performances.

Mridangam meaning ‘mud paste’ and ‘Body part’ is made by using mud paste. It is also known as Murajam, Ankyamu, Alingyamu and Urdhwakamu. It is described as an instrument capable of generating Madhura Dhwani or sweet sounds.

It is cylindrical in shape and one and half to two feet in length. Skin caps placed on the openings or faces on both sides are stretched light and are fastened to leather hoops held tight by interlaced leather braces which pass along the length of the Mridangam. Round blocks of wood are inserted between the braces and the wall. By adjusting them the pitch of the instrument can be altered to the desired level.

A mixture of flour and water is applied on the middle of the left side to lower the tone of the desired pitch. This kind of plaster adds to the resonance and gives a full, bass sound. The centre of the right face has a permanent coating of black substance made of boiled rice manganese dust iron fillings and other substances. It is this black layer that gives the Mridangam its characteristic tone and facilitates turning in a particular pitch of the player’s choice. The best wood for making Mridangam is Panasa or jack wood. When it is not available the alternates are vegisa, red sandal, vepa, gangaravi etc. Leather of Sheep/goat (fore part of the body) is applied as a central sheet on the right face. Leather of a calf is applied on it. All these hides are to be circular in spare with at least a diameter of 10 inches each. The other materials used are leather strap of 214 yards in length and half-an-inch width, eight laces of leather from the hide of young buffalo or ox of 2 yards length each and 3/10 inches width dross iron, grease, paste of boiled floor and wooden plant. The instruments or tools used are lacing awl, knife, pliers, half inch edged small chisel and fine, soft surfaced round stone or metal of one to one and half inches diameter.

The making of the craft is very lengthy beginning with preparation of the body by turning the jack-wood into shape to suit varying lengths fixing the leather cap, preparing the leather strap, making of left face, making of three perforations, lacing, making 32 slits and so on.

Rao says, the making of Mridangam is very difficult and requires not only intricate skill in fixing caps and weaving laces but also in setting the kerine that controls the sound, for which the musical knowledge of Sruti and Laya is needed which can be attained only out of practice.

The artisans are engaged in this craft at Vizianagaram, Vijayawada, Tenali, Hyderabad and Rajahmundry with varied characteristics. The artisans of Jaggaiahpet are diversified and are making dholaks which is said to be less intricate, more paying and has good market. Want of patronage after the disappearance of Rajas and Zamindars, uncertainty to sell the pieces made by them without a prior order, difficulty in procuring quality wood in required blocks coupled with finding of working capital are some of the problems, according to Nimmala Soma lingam and his son, noted Mridangam makers and repairers in Vizianagaram. But Dasari Rama Mohan Rao pointed out how the rates of leather went up by 300% or more in the last few years. Another problem, the artisans are facing is the procurement of hid of a just killed animal, a cow or calf but not that of a dead animal, as killing of cows is more or less considered as a clandestine affair.

Parvatala Rao suggests that the Mridangam makers are to be encouraged to diversify their products and can be engaged in making dholaks, Tablas, dakkies, and other percussion instruments, which do not need intricate handling. It is also suggested of making of ‘toy Mridangam’ like the Bobbili toy Veenas which can be sold faster and can be used as mementos. Training centres may be established with improved tools and machines like a lathe machine for using to turn the wood to make the Mridangam shell. And also adequate publicity needs to be given of the craft.

(To become part of the forth coming book "Languishing Handicrafts of AP" by Late Bhandaru Parvatala Rao as an Executive Summary on "Mridangam Making")

Leather Puppets – A Languishing Handicraft:Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao

Leather Puppets – A Languishing Handicraft

Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao

Published in AP Times (Hyderabad) on 21-08-1996

Leather puppetry, an ancient practice of conducting shadow plays using puppets made of leather that existed in India as early as the sixth century B.C is under the threat of joining the ranks of bygone arts if neglected further, according to a documentation report based on a study commissioned by Andhra Pradesh Handicrafts Development Corporation (APHDC) 17 years ago in 1994.

The APHDC with the financial assistance of the Development Commissioner for Handicrafts of Government of India, as part of the revival scheme of old, rare and languishing handicrafts of Andhra Pradesh, commissioned documentation of leather puppetry. Late Bhandaru Parvatala Rao (Former Director Information and Public Relations, Government of Andhra Pradesh) who did the job observed in his report that “It is really an unfortunate thing, that most of the families of ‘Tholubommalatavallu’ or ‘Koyyabommalavallu’, had to divert to other vocations ranging from sale of old clothes to farm labour and at least in few cases resorting to begging”.

A large number of Andhra Puppeteers are of Maratha origin and they (those few who are still in the profession) speak a dialect known as Aare Marathi even to this day. The Aares are of two sections – Rekandar and Vanarasa. The four major families in Aares are Annaparthy, Thota, Aveta and Sindhe. Though Aares are wedded to the joint family system due to professional compulsions, modernisation forced them to seek other vocations leading to break down in the joint family system which lead not only to economic crisis but also to social crisis.

Leather Puppets are made in sizes convenient for display on a screen, the size of which varies from six feet by four feet to ten feet by eight feet in different regions. Temple architecture appears to have influenced the design to a large extent in the past. Later there was Mogul and French influence and of late, the influence of the silver screen.

According to the crafts persons of Leather Puppets making of Nimmalakunta in Ananthapur District, the first stage in the preparation of leather Puppet is to produce the hides (wet skin) of deer or goat soon after it is ripped. The wet skin is dipped in warm water and its inner side is cleaned with knife. The stocky matter and hair are also removed and the hide is cleaned properly and completely. The skin is placed on a gunny mat over a cot and stretched out evenly and tightly on all sides so as not to leave a wrinkle when it dries out. This is done manually by four persons. It is then fixed on the gunny mat and nailed on all sides to keep it in position.

After a day’s drying the skin becomes clear, white and translucent. Two or three such skins for head, for trunks and for limbs are needed to make a required size puppet figure. In the actual making of a puppet, an outline of the figure that is needed is drawn on the straightened skin. The final sketch is made with a sharp chisel causing a groove to mate the line appear distinctly on the screen when displayed. Designing involved careful and orderly perforation of holes according to a set pattern using a set of sharp chisels of various sizes. Punching of holes on the head, body or limbs is taken up next.

The artisan with imagination coupled with a fine sense of colour and design shapes the figure with jewellery and clothing. The separated parts of the figure such as the head, body and limbs are brought together by tying them with a string. This is followed by colouring, which renders the puppet complete and is done only after the puppet is joined together. Colouring in ancient days was done using locally made vegetable colours but later chemical colours were used because of their easy availability. Multi coloured puppets in lighter shades is the order of the day.

Thanks to the advent of colour films and colour TV a piece of cloth rolled into a lump is used to apply colour and another piece of cloth is taken and used to smoothen the colour and make it spread in a uniform tone. Puppets are coloured on both sides so that they can be used in either direction or on either side. The size of the puppets varies and sometimes the same character may also vary in size. Puppeteers prepare the puppet and also play it. They deliver the dialogues and sing songs for the character, which they manipulate from behind the screen. Puppets are zealously guarded from rain and rats and for this they are kept in a box made of bamboos called Ganiyam.

As part of puppet show activities like erection of screen, manipulation from behind the screen, lighting tricks, chorus singing, observing rituals, invocation, sabhavandanam, sutradhari’s prologue and other connected activities need to be done. The puppeteers do not follow any text but draw material from number of sources.

Parvatala Rao observed that there were no schools to train people in leather puppetry and as part of family tradition children get trained by their parents in the art of preparation and manipulation of puppets. Leather Puppet shows are given almost during the entire year except in rainy season.

The puppeteers who enjoyed the patronage of kings and zamindars in good old days were at the mercy of faction-ridden village heads. The Electronic media also became its competitor. Faced with these problems, the younger generations considered it not wise to practice this art. Notwithstanding this, the puppeteers of Nimmalakunta who formed a cooperative society gave performances in Germany and USA which gave them an excellent exposure to the stage craft in developed nations. It also helped them to get excellent publicity indigenously. Slowly that too in later days became a rare activity.

Artisans of Nimmalakunta were of the view that this age old art should also adopt innovations to suit public demand or taste like substituting electric lamp in place of oil lamps during the puppetry show. They also felt the need to diversify the vocation by way of making utility and decorative household articles such as lamp shades. APHDC apart from marketing these puppets through its chain of Lepakshi Handicrafts Emporia, provided assistance to the artisans of Nimmalakunta for constructing house-cum-work sheds. They were also given loans to buy materials like goat hides and colours. It was also observed that the demand for supply of decorative articles made of leather was not fully met.

Parvatala Rao in his documentation report mentioned that though they were still considerable number of active troupes giving performances, leather puppetry was certainly a languishing craft as younger persons were averse to opt to the puppeteers for life. He said that, everyone was vocal about the need to revive the art but precious little was accomplished on the whole for the vocation and suggested for a planned and sustained effort to preserve and promote this ancient art form.

Dr. M. Nagabhushana Sarma in his book Tholu Bommalata recommended for establishing a “National Academy for Puppetry” which can visualise a national policy of retaining, reviving and remodelling the different kinds of puppet theatres in the country to suit the changing circumstances.

As recommended in the documentation report, the APHDC sent at that time a proposal to Government of India and got a scheme sanctioned for revival of the craft. Under this programme, new designs were being developed and also skill development training programme was organized at Nimmalakunta in Ananthapur district.

The efforts of Handicrafts Development Corporation helped the 70 and odd active, 200 and odd occasional Leather Puppetry crafts persons to stay in the family tradition and helping their family members numbering about 1000 to survive. The artisans are also able to market their products through the chain of Lepakshi Emporia besides participating in the Exhibitions organised by Development Commissioner for Handicrafts at national and international level.

However, it still remains as a languishing craft and whether the encouragement being given by APHDC be able to keep the craft live for few more years or not is offcourse anybody’s guess!