K. Sashi Kumar

Panchavadyam: a Temple Art Form of Kerala K. Sashi Kumar

Panchavadyam is a work on temple arts of Kerala. It is an introduction to the most popular temple arts of Kerala. Among the Talavadyas (percussion ensembles) of Kerala Panchavadyam is the most popular among the temple arts of Kerala. Pancha means five and vadyam refers to the musical instruments. Even though five instruments are listed above, justifying the name panchavadyam, a sixth instruments namely, Shanku (conch) also forms an integral part of the panchavadyam performance. Chapter I , concerns its origin, its historical reference , its old and new forms and other instruments that come under the name panct6havadyam. Chapter II, deals with the construction of musical instruments like Timila, Maddalam, Idakka , Kombu, and Elattalam. Chapter III, describes the training of these musical instruments and the institutions imparting the training. Chapter IV, is mainly based on the performance of panchavadyam, its notations, number of musicians present in the concert. The final chapter is concerned with famous musicians of this art form.