Mridangam is one of the most venerated and popular classical drums of India. Its incredible tonal qaulity has made this rhythmic instrument an indispensable one in the music and dance performances and in other religious rituals in India. Its design and construction being highly scientific, has drawn the attention of many scientists to make a detailed study with regard to its acoustical properties. The innumerable rhythmic patterns based on permutation and combination, when performed by an mridangist enhances the music concert. The tala system of Indian classical music provides the musical composition and the rhythmic syllables a definite structure. The great art of relating the percussion skill to music which we have inherited from our stalwarts of the past provides scope for further improvisation and innovation. Further, mridangam will reign the field of percussion art and stands as a testimony to the inventive genius of our ancestors for ever.
Shreejayanthi Gopal is a reputed mridangam artiste of Karnataka. After successfully completing the academic studies in the field of Management Science and Diploma in Computer programming and systems design, she underwent advanced training in Mridangam under Padma Bhushan 'Umayalpuram Shivaraman' of Chennai. She was invited to participate in the Festival of India in France. She was specially invited by the Department of Art and Culture, Government of Manipur to perform in Imphal. She has given many Lecture Demonstrations in India and abroad. She has accompanied artistes of repute. She is the recipient of the Government of India Fellowship for outstanding artistes.
Nätyaśāstra of Bharata categorises all the musical instruments into four fold classification, namely Tatavādya-string instruments, Susira-wind instruments, Avanaddha-percussion instruments and Ghana-the cymbals and other metal instruments.
The Avanaddha Vadyas, the Indian drums are known for the variety and unbroken heritage consisting of tribal, folk, martial and classical adaptation. The drum stands as basic, single musical instrument, that instills life to music. We come across with a good number of distinctive drums in sculptures all over India and Indian literature has profusely quoted the drums in various context. Apart from these, the sastras from time to time give the technical details of manufacturing as well as the way of playing on the drums. The drums are very important musical instruments and the soul of any music, as they signify the rhythm. The näda produced by beating the face of a drum is the sound syllable which touches the soul and transcend into body of the mortal and transforms him into a human being. The sculptural panels depict the variations of the drum in vertical and horizontal way of placing and playing.
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