nAdasvaram, the wind instrument

[N. Ganesan]

In the thread "Musical trees and rivers?", Dr. C. Wedemeyer
asked about instruments called vanaspati and nadii.

The following are my thoughts concerning only nadi which I believe
is the famous wind instrument of South India. I will write
about what Vanaspati might mean as a kind of harp in the near
future.

V. Sundaresan:
>Alternatively, is there a textual reason that the word could be nAdi,
>derived from nAda, instead of nadI?

N. Mohkamsing:
>In Skt. musicology the traditional classification of musical instruments,
>as promulgated by the NATyashAstra, is as follows: (1) lutes (tata); (2)
>flute (su.shira); (3) ghana (cymbals); and (4) avanaddha (drums). TAla and
>muraja are representative members of the last two types respectively. That
>means that the first two types are assumably also represented by
>instruments denoted as "vanaspati-nady-ucchaTaa-".

In his latest mail on his question:
>"nady" could either be emended to read naadi (and thus be a
>wind instrument--perhaps a kind of flute?)

A popular reed instrument is called nAdasvaram. This wind
instrument's players are the teachers (naTTuvanAr) for BharatanATyam
dancers all over the world.

Nadasvaram has the word, nADa 'reed'. Dravidian has both naDa/nADa as
'reed'. Like yATu 'goat' > yAdava, nADasvaram is now popularly known
as nAdasvaram.

Monier-Williams lists:
cf. %{nadI}) Mn. MBh. &c. ; = %{naDa} , reed RV. i , 32 , 8; (%{I})
f. see %{nadI4}.

Some references on the nAdasvaram wind instrument (not including
those in Tamil) which will be useful in understanding nadi/nAdi:
a)Nazir Jairazbhoy "A Preliminary Survey of the Oboe in India" ,
   Ethnomusicology, xiv: 375-8 8 (1970)
b)Nazir Jairazbhoy, "The South Asian Double-Reed Aerophone
   Reconsidered" , Ethnomusicology  xxiv/1: 147-55 (January 1980)
c)  Yoshitaka Terada, Multiple interpretations of
a charismatic individual: the case of the great Nagasvaram musician,
T. N. Rajarattinam Pillai. PhD thesis, 1992, Univ. of Washington,
Seattle, 361p.

BTW, An inscribed urn containing Aryadeva's ashes have been found
near Kanchi. (Will give the ref. later). Did Aryadeva spend some time
in South India? Was he born in Sri Lanka?

Regards,
N. Ganesan

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