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Home > Temples of Kerala > Ritualistic and Performing Arts in Kerala Temples Ritualistic and Performing Arts in Kerala TemplesRitualistic and Performing Arts in Kerala TemplesArt can be defined as an expression of anything with skill or in a well-disciplined form. It may either be in the form of music, instruments, performing arts or any other form. The origin of music can be traced to the primitive days when man imitated by raising his sounds similar to bird-calls, animal noises etc for different purposes like banishment of wild animals, exorcise evil spirits or even for emotional satisfaction. Voices thus produced by man had different tones of high or low pitch. In course of time language which had a pivotal role in the form of thaala, raaga and measured verses, influenced these voices and music emerged depending on the occasion. Similarly as accompaniments to music many instruments came into existence like flute, string instruments, drum etc. In Kerala, the arts associated with the temple are music in the form of Sopaana-sangeetha, musical instruments, ritualistic arts like Theyyam, Thira, etc performing arts like Kootthu, Krishnanaattam, Thullal, Kathhakali etc. However, there is no doubt that thaala (rhythm) has a significant role in music. In temples of Kerala, either for sopaana-sangeetha or in playing instruments, thaalahas an essential part, as it brings out the enchanting rhythmic beauty. In musical instruments thaala has a vital role and has considerable importance. Thaala has three essential parts viz. kaala (time), kriya (action) and maana (measure). Thaala thus is a rhythmic action of stipulated time sequence. The root of the Sanskrit word Thaala is thaala-prathishtaayaam which implies that all actions are done within a stipulated time frame. Some authors give a different view on the origin of the word thaala.ie, the word thaa-la has two alphabets ie, thaa, which represents the thaandava of Lord Siva in the form of Nataraja and la indicating the laasya of Goddess Parameswari. But no authority has been quoted for this view. In Kerala the procedure of thaala or thaala-krama is followed based on the works of Kohlan (Bharatha's son), the treatises being Thaala-lakshana, Sangeetha-meru and Kohala-rahasya. Thaala, thus has a spiritual background of Siva-Sakthi. Some others take the view that geeth (music) is brahma and thaala is maaya. Thaala also means palm (of hand) and is treated as the musical time or measure (measured by the thumb and middle finger). The traditional classification of praana in man is extended over to thaala system. Accordingly thaala has ten praanas (five maha-praanas of kaalam, maarggam, kriya, angam and jaathi and five upa-praanas of graha, kala, layam, yathi and prasthaaram). A person who is familiarized with the intricacies of these ten praanas can easily understand the mode of thaala and its use in various musical instruments. Of these five maha-praanas require further explanation as the entire thaala-system functions based on them. Of these maha-praanas, kaala indicates the time classified by kshana, lava, kaashta, nimesham, kala, thuti, anudrutha, drutha, lakhu, guru, plootha and kaakapaada in ascending order. Maargga, the second one in maha-praanas, stipulates the speed for rendering the songs known as maathra or lakhu (equal four akshara-kaala) which is classified into groups like chithra-thamam, chithra-tharam, dhruvam, chithram, vaarthikam and dakshina in ascending order. All these six maarggas are known singly as kshad-kaala. The third one kriya is either beating or showing hands or both depending on the occasion within a specified time-sequence. This can be done in different ways like (i) with beating the left palm with right hand (with sound) (ii) fanning the right palm and counting of fingers (without sound), etc. The fourth maha-praana has angams and they are essentially the limbs of thaala and comprized of anudrutha, drutha, lakhu, guru, plootha and kaaka-paada depending on akshara-kaala and maathra. The last maha-praana is jaathi consisting of five main ones, VlZ. thrissam, chathurassram, khandam, misram, sankeernam and all these are based on strokes and counting of fingers. Similar to saptha-svara in music there are seven thaalas viz, dhruva, mathyam, roopakam, thri-puta, jhamba, ata and eka. Upa-praanas of thaala system, similar to maha-praanas also have sub-divisions. Graha is classified as samam, atheetham, anaagatham and vishamam. Kala is further grouped under eka-kala, dwi-kala, chathushkala and depends on akshara-kaala. Layam is classified as vilambham (chowkam), maddhyam and drutham. Yathi is the rule for laya which comprises sama, srothogatha, gopuchha, mridanga-yathi and peepeelika¬yathi and their sub-divisions. Similar to swara-prasthaara there are ten thaala¬prasthaara also known as nashta, uddishta, paathaalam, drutha-meru, lakhu-meru, guru-meru, plootha-meru, samyoga-meru, khanda-prasthaara and yathi-prasthaara. From the above broad outline the mode on which these musical instruments in temples, are played, becomes clear.
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