Timila

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Timila

Timila , also thimila, thimala ( Malayalam തിമില), is a wooden hourglass drum that is played in Hindu ceremonial music in the southern Indian state of Kerala . In addition to other temple orchestras, the timila belongs primarily to the Panchavadyam , an ensemble of four different percussion instruments and a natural trumpet.

Design

The body of the timila consists of a piece of wood from the jackfruit tree (Malayalam Varikka plavu ), which is hollowed out on the inside to a wall thickness of about one centimeter and sanded smooth on the outside. The shape is slim and tailored in an elegant curve towards the center. The length is about 60 centimeters, just under 90 or slightly over 100 centimeters, with a diameter at both ends of 27 centimeters and a center diameter of 11 centimeters. The two membranes are made of calf skin, over separate circular rings ( valayal) made of bamboo and glued. The diameters of the rings are slightly larger than the body openings. The membrane plates produced in this way are pierced symmetrically at six points on the edge. The membranes retain their position on both sides of the body only thanks to the W-shaped lacing that is passed through the holes and consists of twisted strips of skin that clamps them together. Using a cord running across the waist, the eardrums can be tuned to the desired pitch. The total required cord should be 25 meters long.

The player hangs the timila on a band of fabric around his left shoulder and holds the instrument almost horizontally with his left hand at hip height. He only hits the front eardrum with the fingers of both hands. There are only two types of beats, called tha and thom . Playing position and striking technique are similar to African hourglass drums.

Origin and Distribution

Four fingers of both hands are protected by white thimbles ( viral-chuttu ) to produce a harder sound.

The timila is one of a series of Indian hourglass drums that originated in pre-Christian times in the region from the eastern Iranian highlands to northern India and Tibet . The religious and mythological significance of the hourglass drums goes back to the small damaru , which is valued as an attribute of Shiva and other gods. The timila also represents the cosmic drum of Shiva. Two slightly larger, ceremonial hourglass drums are known as hurka and daunr in the province of Uttarakhand on the southern edge of the Himalayas .

Contrary to the importance of music in temple rituals in Kerala, there are few references to the role of temple music in ancient religious texts. In the Sanskrit treatise Tantrapaddhati ( paddhati , "treatise", hence Isanasivagurudevapaddhati ) written by Isanasivagurudeva in the 13th century , the timila is mentioned as an important accompanying instrument in rituals. In Kerala the temple service played musical instruments according to their function classified . The timila belongs to the devavadyam , the instruments used for the higher gods ( devas ), in contrast to the asuravadyam , the musical instruments that are played in honor of lower deities ( asuras ).

In the ritual drum orchestra Panchavadyam ("five musical instruments"), which is performed in the courtyard of a large temple ( kshetram ), the timila takes the lead. The other percussion instruments are the hourglass drum idakka , whose range of two octaves identifies it as a melody instrument, the larger two-headed barrel drum madhalam (in Karnataka maddale ), both with a wooden body, and the small bronze paired cymbals elathalam . In addition, the curved natural trumpet kombu is the only wind instrument . The cylinder drum chenda, which is otherwise used in religious ceremonies, is missing in this ensemble. Large panchavadyam orchestras usually have one or two idakka players, a little more madhalam players and twice as many of the other instruments as there are madhalams . A Panchavadyam performance, which begins in the morning at temple festivals, lasts eight hours, further hours follow in the evening and later in the night. The Panchavadyam Orchestra has existed as it is today since 1930, when it was brought into a standardized form by Maddalam player Venkateswara Iyer. After the Panchavadyam is over, the performance of timila etachil follows . Here come Timila poker players in a kind of competition with each other. You stand in a circle with elathalam players and beat the drums in the chempata rhythm ( talam ), which has eight or four beats , at increasing pace.

Another ceremonial orchestra is the Vilakkacharam ( Kriyangom ), which is used in various worship rituals ( pujas ). The mentioned drums accompany the invocation songs of temple singers, occasionally supplemented by the double reed instrument kuzhal (also kurum kuzhal ). The timila can be played with the idakka , the mizhavu , a large round copper kettle , the snail horn shanku and cymbals ( kulitalam ) with accompanying music in the Kutiyattam dance theater .

The most important Timila players include Kuzhoor Narayana Marar and Kongad Vijayan († 2006). The temple drummers in Kerala are members of the Maaran (Marar) caste .

literature

  • David B. Reck: Musical Instruments: Southern Area. In: Alison Arnold (Ed.): Garland Encyclopedia of World Music . Volume 5: South Asia. The Indian Subcontinent. Routledge, New York / London 2000, p. 360
  • Timila (thimala) . In: Stanley Sadie (Ed.): The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 3 (P-Z). Macmillan Press, London 1984, p. 586
  • Timilā. In: Late Pandit Nikhil Ghosh (Ed.): The Oxford Encyclopaedia of the Music of India. Saṅgīt Mahābhāratī. Vol. 3 (P-Z). Oxford University Press, New Delhi 2011, p. 1083

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Oxford Encyclopedia , p. 1083; New Grove Dictionary , p. 586
  2. ^ David B. Reck: Garland . P. 360
  3. ↑ Thimila. ( Memento of May 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Enchanting Kerala.org
  4. ^ Francis W. Galpin: The Music of the Sumerians and their Immediate Successors, the Babylonians and Assyrians. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1937; 2nd unchanged edition: Strasbourg University Press 1955, p. 76, ISBN 978-0-521-18063-4
  5. ^ Rolf Killius: Ritual Music and Hindu Rituals of Kerala. BR Rhythms, Delhi 2006, pp. 46, 87
  6. ↑ Suganthy Krishnamachari: symphony Leading to unrehearsed . The Hindu, October 8, 2010
  7. ↑ V. Kaladharan: Patriarch of Panchavadyam . In: The Hindu , February 5, 2010
  8. ^ Vinu Vasudevan: In memory of a maestro . In: The Hindu , May 19, 2006
  9. ^ New Grove . P. 586