Smearing the Drums

[Lakshmi Srinivas]

--- "N. Ganesan" <naga_ganesan at HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:

> Its name contains the prefix, taN 'cool', and its
> percussion sound is described soft ('ta_laGku' or
> 'aritta
> kural taNNumai'). Usually the bards 'pANar' were
> gifted
> with young calfs, and the soft calf-leather was
> utilized as
> taNNumai membranes.
>
>   kan2Ru peRu valcip pANan2 kaiyatai
>   vaLLuyirt taNNumai pOla  - naRRiNai 310:9-10
>

Here the reference seems to be to the pANar eating
calf meat (valci - food). Does this reference allow
the extrapolation that the calf leather was used as
membranes?

Does "vaLLuyir" refer to the drum or to the sound it
produces, although according to commentary "peritAka
olikkum taNNumai" (u ve ca pub. p.560).

The one clue, imho, this verse gives to the nature of
the taNNumai is that it was hollow ("uL yAtum illatOr
pOrvai amcol");  Although the simile is most apt,
isn't it kind of strange considering all drums are
hollow? Is this perhaps a common idiom ?

> The important information that the drums were
> smeared with a flour paste, and were played with
> the drummer's hands just as maddaLam or mRdangam
> is given by patiRRuppattu poem:
>
>              ".....  maak kaN taNNumai
>       kaival iLaiyar kaiyalai a_luGka"
>
>                           - patiRRuppattu 51: 33-34.
>
> "maak kaN taNNumai" clearly states the application
> of flour paste on the drums and one of the earliest
> literary attestations of this ancient Indian
> practice
> mentioned in Natyasastram, Susruta Samhita, and so
> on.

However according to the commentary that I have
"mAkkaN taNNumai" - "kariya kaNNaiyuTaiya taNNumai",
so it would seem mA is used in one of its more common
senses viz., black/dark  instead of flour. (Kazhagam
edition, p.241). Do you have any other commentary ...
u ve ca perhaps?

Thanks and Warm Regards,
LS


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