KOCHI: It was a musical extravaganza at the Thirumala Sree Rama Temple, Tripunithura, on Wednesday. Percussion maestro Kalloor Ramankutty Marar’s thayambaka presentation with an unmatched control on the percussion kept the audience spellbound.
Kalloor attained supremacy in thayambaka through the strenuous ‘nilaavu sadhakam’ (practice in the moonlight), which is the toughest training for students mastering percussion. It lasts for almost a month. If the duration of training on the first night is 48 minutes, it is double on the following night and reaches the climax on the full moon night when the practice lasts for 12 hours. Then the duration of training decreases till the new moon night.
On all these nights students practise the basic beats of chenda on hard granite. “I underwent the ‘nilaavu saadhakam’ after my higher studies in percussion from Chithali Neelakanta Marar,” said Kalloor.
Only a few celebrities have undergone this unique practice, he said.
As he began his presentation, rhythmic beats echoed from the ceiling of the gigantic ‘nadappura’ of the temple. It’s the first time that a thayambaka performance is being staged at the nadappura and the fans of Kalloor enjoyed the feast to the hilt.
Kalloor presented creative rhythmic numbers at the beginning of the two-hour performance. He unveiled the sweetness of tonal variations and presented intricate numbers using the basic rhythm in a distinctive style belonging to the Palakkadan School of Thayambaka. There were lengthy numbers in the ascending and descending order. Atantha Kooru, a genius among contemporary performers, exposed the tonal clarity of beats with his left palm along with Kalloor. Nine youngsters who accompanied the maestro on edamthala, elathaalam and valanthala made it a memorable evening for music buffs.
Kalloor, who has a Gurukula Training Centre for percussion at his native place, Mankurussi, was accompanied by his young disciples Kalloor Vinod, Kalloor Jayan and Gopalakrishnan among others.
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