KOCHI: Who first played the percussion instrument mridangam? Scriptures say it is Narayana Swamy Appa, a Marathi, who was a musician in the durbar of King Serfoji in Thanjavur. He passed on the skills to his disciple, Das Rao. Later on, it split into two schools of music: Thanjavur Bani and Puthukottai Bani.
It is the evolution of Thanjavur Bani that the Palakkad-based musician Harinarayanan A M traces through his two-hour long documentary, ‘Mridanga Tatvam’.
The MBA graduate, who ventured into the big world of mridangam at the age of five under the tutelage of K P Parameswaran, explores the nuances of Thanjavur Bani, including playing songs, mathematical sequences, learning practices and finger movements, in ‘Mridanga Tatvam’.
“Thanjavur Bani was popularised by Thanjavur Vaidyanatha Iyer. Today, it is legendary Mridangam exponent T K Murthy who carries forward the tradition. Thanjavur Bani is a very rich and elegant stream, but is on the wane. I wanted to document it. That is how I stumbled on the idea of a making a documentary on the subject. I had to depend on a lot of research material, but basically it is my guru T K Murthy who was the leading light,” says Harinarayanan.
Harinarayanan met T K Murthy while he was in Chennai and after 15 years with the Guru, he decided to come up with a befitting tribute to the musical form.
“When I broached the idea to my teacher [T K Murthy], he expressed an interest. That’s how I decided to get started on the project. I wanted this to be a research material for mridangam enthusiasts as well as the new generation,” says Harinarayanan.
It took almost four years to come up with the material, which includes the history and evolution of the percussion instrument.
The documentary is shot in a way that a teacher and his student (played by T K Murthy and Harinarayanan, respectively) engage in a discussion over the nuances of playing the mridangam. Performances and demonstrations are weaved into the narrative. “The guru-sishya style of narrative is aimed at edifying music students. The performance and demonstrations of techniques are blended in to make it more descriptive, while breaking the monotony,” says Harinarayanan.
The release of ‘Mridanga Tatvam’ was held recently in the presence of many stalwarts. “It was a proud moment for me when masters, like Karakudi Mani, attended the launch of the DVD of the documentary. It shows how much they care,” says Harinarayanan.
The DVD is available only through his website www.mridangatatvam.com.