The Ubiquitous 'CHENDA'

Submitted by bhawani on Sun, 2007-01-07 12:11. Kerala
A Malayalam proverb rates the Chenda supreme among the eighteen musical instruments used in Kerala. That does not refer to its decibel levels alone. The ubiquitous Chenda is used in temples for festivals and rituals, as well as performs the role of a town crier, announcing the new film in town, or even the circus!

(Many are the young boys who would have dreamt of life as a 'chendakaran!)

One among the quartet of accompanying percussions used in Kathakali music, thayambaka, keli and chendamelam, the Chenda is carved out of the cylindrical stump of a Jackfruit tree. The karimpana, karingali, konna and chembakam are also used for these purposes. Making of the chenda is an art in itself. The trunk is bored hollow in the shape of a cylinder, to have a radius of 20 cm, a length of 50 cm and thickness of around 2 cm.

The upper part of the chenda known as edamthala is the one exposed to the stick and its edges are squarish, while the lower part known as valamthala, the edges are smooth and rounded. Treated calf-skin stretched taut across the hollow ends and fastened with koothuvaar (leather strips) creats a surface tension suited to reverberate. The calfskin extends nearly 3 cm over the edge. There are 12 holes on the instrument and a chord, made of jute, goes through these from end to end. The rope passes through eleven loops made of skin and the positioning of the loops play a key role in acoustics.

Designed for resonance the upper side is covered with one such skin. The lower part has one thick skin as the base and over that, another layer made up of seven layers of skins of varying diameters complete the chenda.

The Chenda slung from the shoulder using a thick cloth is played by using a stick made from a tamarind tree stem and is usually as long as the length of the arm from the elbow to the middle finger of the drummer.

As with most instruments used for temple rituals, the Chenda is said to possess both divine (deivikam) and demonic (asura) qualities. The right end is used for rituals, worship and to accompany the noble characters in Kathakali. Only on rare occasions are sticks used to beat on both sides, most commonly it is the stick on the right side and the bare hand on the left hand.

Together it sets the tone and tenor for a performance, a ritual or even a celebration.
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