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Ghatam
Among the thumping or drumming musical instruments, Ghatam is a pot shaped earthen vessel mostly associated with the traditional music of Karnataka and adjoining states in India. Ghatam has many variants being played in music of different regions across India. In Punjab its variant is called ‘Gharha’, in Rajasthan its variant is known as ‘Madga’ or ‘Pani Matka’.
Being South India’s one of the oldest percussion musical instrument, Ghatam is made of clay and has a narrow opening towards the upper side. It gets widened moving vertically towards the middle and gets on shrinking to the bottom. Ghatam is made with added ingredients like brass, copper and iron fillings. The size of the Ghatam depends upon the desired pitch level of the instrument which can also be modified by use special clay.
The Ghatam is made in a similar procedure like that of any other earthen pot, but to attain an optimum level of tone and pitch the walls of the Ghatam are made uniformly thick.
Ghatams are made at many places in South India like Chennai, Bangalore etc, but Ghatams of Mana Madurai, Tamil Nadu are considered to be of best quality in term of the sound produced. The difference lies in the soil found at Mana Madurai, which is used as the manufacturing material for the Ghatams. The mud is used with debris of brass in order to make a thick and uniform sound producing Ghatams.The Mana Madurai Ghatams are supposedly hard to play as it requires more effort but the sound production is of enhanced quality and with high treble.
Origin of Ghatam
The literal meaning of word Ghatam (Sanskrit) is pot. Ghatam is a beating musical instrument of ancient origin and holds the same position as do Veena or Mridangam hold. Ramayana written by Valmiki also has a mention of music produced from Ghatam in its tenth Chapter. In addition, the ‘Krishna Ganam’ holds a reference to the instrument Ghatam, where Lord Krishna plays the flute and an accomplice plays a pot. Ghatam also finds mention in ancient scriptures about musical instruments and is considered to be of very old origin.
Its variant in Kashmir is called as ‘Not’, in Rajasthan is known as ‘Mudki’ and has been mainly associated with the folk music. Over the years Ghatam has made its way to the modern day music and has been used in concerts etc. In non-traditional category, the Ghatam is used in Jazz, Rock, Fusion and many other variants.
Design
Like any other earthen pot of Indian style, Ghatam is also made up of mud with special attention given to the uniform thickness of walls so as to produce good quality tone. Metallic fillings are added to the clay for producing the Ghatam that produce vibrating sound. Ghatams are generally of two origins: Mana Madurai & Chennai (Madras). Ghatams of Chennai are light weighted and do not require much force while playing, however Ghatams of Mana Madurai are comparatively heavy weighted and are played with difficulty but produce metallic sound.
The pitch of the Ghatam cannot be changed in the same manner of flute etc. Ghatam has a homogenous composition which is also different from many musical instruments.
Playing Positions
The player holds the Ghatam in his lap while in a sitting position and places its opening towards him. The Ghatam player strikes the instrument on the outer side with his edges of hand, fingers, and thumbs to generate sounds of different tones. The part of the Ghatam and the part of the hand that is used in striking determines the tone of the sound produced. Ghatam can be placed with its opening facing towards the audience to produce a different set of tones. The Ghatam player sometimes tosses the instrument up and catches it again and plays for the delight of the audience.
Notable Players
T.H. Vinayakram: Popularly known as Vikku Vinayakram, Thetakudi Harihara Vinayakram is a very renowned Ghatam player of India. Born in 1942, Vinayakram has won Grammy Award for his Ghatam performance in Carnatic music. He has done a remarkable service in popularizing the Ghatam round the globe. He has also won the Hafiz Ali Khan Award in 2000 for his unparallel contribution in the music arena. He has the distinction of winning Grammy Award for his contribution in Mickey Hart's Album as a Ghatam player.
Ghatam Giridhar Udupa: Born in a family of musicians, Ghatam Giridhar Udupa started to play Ghatam at stage from an age of four. He is one of the top musicians of percussion instruments and has learnt his music from his father V. U. Nagendra Udupa at an initial stage of his career. Thereafter, he started to learn the music from Vidwan Ghatam V.Suresh and Vidushi Ghatam S. Ramgopal. He has been enthralling people with his magical style of playing Ghatam and has been a huge success wherever he has played on stage.
Thetakudi Harihara Subash Chandran: T. H. S. Chandran has a reputation of being the best living artist of vocal percussion of Konnakol. He has been playing Ghatam from a long time and has had disciples in the shape of many music greats. He has taught music to N. Ramakrishna for Mridangam, V. Selvaganesh and G. Kumar Kanjira. Many new generation and talented musicians are still in his discipleship. Chandran has mastered many percussion instruments and plays Ghatam with such mesmerizing style that audience throng to see him play. Born to T. R. Harihara Sharma, Chandran is also the younger sibling of T. H. Vinayakram, who is another great of Ghatam playing. He is the living legend among Ghatam players.
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