Various Types of Folk Music of Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is the home of the Dravidian art and culture which is here from the
earliest times that is pre-historic. This culture also existed along with the Vedic
period. The music of Tamilnadu had their beginnings in the temples. From early times
different groups of people were appointed to sing divine songs in the temples.
Officers called 'Thevara Nayakams' or leaders of the world of music, arranged for the
private worship of kings and also arranged for group singing. These worships and
group singing will take place in the temples of lord shiva. Folk music is the product
of a musical tradition that has been evolved through the process of oral transmission.
Folk music is simple with easy rhythmic patterns. A folk song is lyrical, short, simple
and less artistic but rhythmic song of folk community. Tamil folk songs are highly
appreciated by people all over south india for its unique pattern and style. Music is
the universal language of mankind which is mentioned in the tamil literature as pattu,
paatal and isai. Tamil villages have been distinguished as passionate lovers of folk
music and songs. Folk songs reveal the real feeling and ideas in other words, the
culture of a people. One could understand how rural folks of tamilnadu love and
handle music at every stage of life. Tamil folk music are being used in cinemas
regularly for their music production. Some of these folk songs in films became very
popular and fabulous hits. Tamil folk music is remarkable for tala intricacies. Most
ancient classical ragas or melodies like Manji, Sama, Navaroz, Kalyani,
Karaharapriya, Thodi and Nadanam-kria are used in the folk songs. As an oral
tradition tamil folk music does not have a codified system of written notation.
Musicians learn through years of conscious listening imitating and also practice
history and performance context. Folk music make use of different instruments like
drums, bells, cymbals, horns and trumpets. The accompanying instruments are
intended to perform the rhythm or to just accompany or imitate the vocal or to play
other principal parts. Musical instruments like Urumi (played in urumi melam and
naiyandi melam-instrumental ensemble) Mugaveena, nadaswaram, thappu (handy
drum used by dalits for thappattam a dance) are extremely popular and traditional
musical instruments of tamilnadu. Instruments such as 'Udukkai' the Gummati,
'Ekkalam' and the 'Pambai' are used both in folk and ritual music, dance and singing.
Folk music have essential role in the cultural aspects such as festivals, rituals and
religious ceremonies. The folk songs of Tamilnadu are classified into several kinds
such as lullaby (talattu), work songs, festival and dirges (oppari), boat songs (kappal
pattu) etc.

(a) Work songs – Folk music serves as a medicine to a man who works so hard
physically. There are various songs composed in folk style for the mens. Songs such
as the ones sung at ploughing, transplanting and harvest, cart drivers, stone lifters,
songs sung while drawing water from rivers or lakes etc. are classified as work songs.
A few songs will be cited as examples

(b) Kolavai Sound – Vibrating the tongue and making a uh...uh..... sound is called as
kolavai or koravai or olavai sound. This sound is made by the women and is
auspicious during rituals and celebrations, they sing kolavai song and make kolavai
sound. Lullabies and kolavai are sung without any particular rhythm. The lullabies
and a few devotional songs are sung melodiously with raga, bhava but without
rhythm. The singers bring the bhakti-bhava and the melancholic effect in expressing
their grief very effectively using suddha swaras.

(c) Kappal Pattu – It is also called as Padagup Pattu is a boat song which belongs to
the region of folk-song usually sung by the travelers in chorus to overcome the fear of
tides and to prevent the routine of travel on lakes and rivers. There are no instruments
used in this song and are sung in chorus. The language, rhythm, meters, poetic and
devotional of all the sections are characteristically tamil. Syllables are added to the
song like 'eleylo eleylo' which makes the action of pulling or pushing the boat easier
and builds and inspires team spirit. But sometimes these syllables are just to add
ornamental beauty to the song.
(d) Villupattu – It is one of the oldest folk music of Tamilnadu. It means 'bow
song'. This form was founded in the fifteenth century by a court poet named Arasa
Pulavar. In villages the performers called pulavar (poet in tamil ) will narrate the
stories with the accompaniment of an orchestra. The bow song or villupattu tradition
has its origin in few districts of Tamilnadu such as Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli and
Ramanathapuram. This form derives its name from 'vil' meaning the bow that is
played by the lead singer. The performance usually takes place during temple festival.
The bow is setup in front of the performing group which consist of 5-10 persons. This
villupattu is also performed during the Kodai festival organized for the local deities
such as Sudalai, Madasamy, Essakkiamman and Muthupattan. The songs sung mostly
in villupattu praises god or tells a story. The important musical instruments that are
used during villupattu performance are the Udukkai ( hour glass drum ), a second
villu (bow), a pot, thaala kattai ( rhythm ) and harmonium. In Tirunelveli district
musicians use a pair of small wooden blocks called thaala kattai and a small cymbal
called jalra. Nowadays some of the villupattu musicians add instruments such as
kanjira and tabla.

The lead vocalist or the main story teller sits in the centre of the bow. He has two thin
wooden rods called veesukol in each hand. Other performers play on different
instruments such as cymbal or 'jalra' and a percussion instrument called udukkai. One
player keeps thaala (rhythm) with small wooden pieces called the kashtha or taala
kattai. When the lead vocalist sings, the other players accompany the singer with their
instruments, and when others sing the lead singer plays the veesukol on the string of
the bow. After the lead singer completes a line of the song the persons accompanying
on udukkai and other instrument players repeat the last phrase of the line or say 'aama
aama' in chorus to denote agreement. Almost every stanza ends with a refrain. As
soon as the lead vocalist finishes singing a stanza the other members sing it in chorus.

This villupattu tradition places extraordinary emphasis on the ultimate importance of

the written text which is preserved on palm leaves.The text of the song are simple and
flowing and are invariable in ballad style, used in rural dialect and abounding in
proverbs. The stories chosen are heroic which are commonly known by most of the
people in the villages. The stories are supernatural, mythological, devotional,
historical and social themes. The other very important feature in villupattu (bow
song) is the spoken debate in verse. The members of the villupattu divides itself into
two groups. One group is led by the lead singer who plays the veesukol and the
udukku player leads the other group. Villupattu is considered to be one of the oldest
existing folk arts of tamilnadu. The villupattu performers are semi-professionals and
semi-literate. This tradition is performed and supported by low and middle caste
people such as Nadars, Maravars, Konars, Pillaimars and Mupanars. These days the
number of artists performing this villupattu is tremendously reduced, as the income
earned from it is never enough for running one's life. Example of recording refer to
CD Track 15.

(e) Naiyandi Melam – Also called as 'chinna melam' that is band music. This is an
tamil folk ensemble associated with ritual and dance. Naiyandi melam is a rustic
imitation of the classical melam or nadaswaram and is intended purely as an
accompaniment to folk dance and drama which is given according to the tastes of the
audience. The tamil word 'naiyandi' means teasing; to make the audience happy the
folk artists make fun and sing songs with the accompaniment of naiyandi melam.
This troop plays instruments such as thavil (barrel drums), tamaku (kettle drum
played with leather straps), otthudi kuzhal, Nadeswaram, Pambai, Urumi and jalra as
their musical accompaniment. One of the important feature of naiyandi melam is that
the instrumentalists also dance while playing their instruments. This Naiyandi Melam
Ensemble is still being practised and performed. Some are being recorded in films by
film composers.

The Naiyandi Melam consist of players from varying background. They perform
Naiyandi Melam for a number of festive occasions including dance, dramas or for
demonstrations, menstruation ceremonies, weddings, harvest festivals and staged folk
dances such as
(a) Poikkal Kudurai (dummy horse dance)
(b) Mayil Attam (peacock dance)
(c) Puli Attam (tiger dance)
(d) Kavadi Attam (a devotional dance to lord Murugan)
(e) Karakattam (water pot dance) and many other dance forms .
There are different types of naiyandi that are played in Karakattam dance :
(a) Vilamba Naiyandi
(b) Solamalai Naiyandi
Example of video recording refer to CD

Tamil Folk Music for Drama (Theatre plays)

Terukkuttu is one form of tamil folk drama. It is a ritualistic dance drama of tamil
nadu and is known by different names such as kuttu, kattaikuttu and popularly known
as terukkuttu. Terukkuttu utilizes poetry, prose as well as music, rhythm and dance to
present highly sacralized dramatization of important mythic episodes such as
Mahabharata, Ramayana which were drawn from Hindu epics and Puranas. The vast
majority of these performances are put on in connection with ritual celebrations
relating to tamil village deities. The theme in most terukkuttu performance will be the
story of Mahabharata. Its basic concern is enactment of the Mahabharata story with
emphasis on the character of Druapadi and in rural tamilnadu there are numerous
temples dedicated to Draupadi Amman. But in some performances of terukkuttu,
plays on Ramayana are performed only at Mariyamman festivals. This folk theatre
depends for its patronage upon common people.

Terukkuttu is a lively flexible tamil folk theatre tradition. It literally means street play
or 'street (teru) theatre' (kuttu) and is found at festival celebrations. Terukkuttu is
staged outside the temples and is an art of the masses. Terukkuttu takes place in the
northern districts of Tamilnadu such as Kanchipuram, Vilupuram, Kadalur, some
parts of Dharmapuri district and Pudducherry and also in the tamil speaking regions
of Sri Lanka. The Terukkuttu performances are a combination of song, music, dance
and drama. The music for this terukkuttu are called as pinpattu meaning the
background music. The performances take place in the open air with the audience
sitting on all three sides. The musicians will be seated at the backstage. The
accompanying instruments are the percussion instruments such as mrdangam or
dholak, a small oboe like wind instrument called mukhavinai, two pairs of cymbals
and harmonium. The mukhavinai and harmonium together form the melodic section.
The melodies or ragas that are used are derived from the classical system of Carnatic
music prevalent in tamilnadu. In Terukkuttu performances the actors sing themselves
and are also supported by the chorus singers. It is then preceded by 'Viruttam'
chanting of four line verses in the same raga as the song. After the song the actor
delivers a speech based on it. The most unique feature of Terukkuttu singing is the
high pitch singing (called seven and a half kattai) of the singers. The structure of the
performance begins with the preliminaries, with songs in praise of various deities if
the theme is about the local deities. Terukkuttu belongs mostly to the non-
brahmanical rural society and has meant a lower status for this form, irrespective of
its artistic merit or potential.

Tamil Folk Music for Dance

Dance songs is the most important, communally shared type of folk song in a Tamil
village, particularly among women is that associated with dance. Special ritual songs
such as those for weddings are generally known only by a few women. Dance songs
frequently involve a leader and chorus, thus enabling all to participate while at the
same time they learn the songs. There are different types of dance songs such as :

(a) The Kummi dance is one of the most important and ancient form of village dances
in Tamil Nadu and are still being performed by womens during festival time in the
temples. This Kummi dance is accompanied by Kummi Songs which are sung with a
simple dance and it is practiced in Kongunadu that is the western part of Tamil nadu.
This kummi is danced by a group of women only. The womens perform this kummi
dance in three occasions in a year in 'tai', and in 'ani' (mid June to July). This song is
performed during the temple festivals, during Pongal the harvest festival and family
functions like the one to celebrate the coming of age (onset of puberty) of the girl
child. The lead singers sing as well as dance. The womens stand in circle and dance
while singing and there is no number specified for dancers. They clap their hands
continuously to a specific timing. There are no special costumes in for kummi
dancers except they wear saree and colorful bangles.

Kummi songs are mostly set to tisra gati (triple meter), very few songs are sung in
catusara gati (quadruple meter). The reason is that the singers stand in circle and
begin to dance along with the clapping in tisra gati (triple meter). So the singers clap
first and then they place the steps. Usually in kummi performances after the end of
one song they immediately start singing the next song in the same time signature. But
sometimes to think or to give a gap they sing syllables like 'tan-na-ne tannane' or
'elelo elelo' to add a rhythmical grip and ornamental beauty to the song. There is
special meaning for these words. These words bring a uniformity to the song and it is
suitable for dancing too.

Sruti in kummi songs – When the song is lead by a single voice followed by a group,
the leader of the group sings in a high pitch. They practice this to maintain the sruti
and tala throughout the song. Other observation that when the womens sings in a
group lead by a leader they sing in a high pitch while singing solo the women sings in
a medium or low pitch. This is because in group singing even when one members
stops in between it cannot be identified than in solo singing.
Example of video recording refer to CD: Kummi Attam

(b) Cintu – Is originally a song type with three divisions: Pallavi, Anupallavi,
Charanam as in the carnatic music. This song type is usually a strophic song only in
the charanam section, with a short melody sung with many verses. The cintu sounds
as a solo melody such as when rendered on the double reed 'nayanam' in a festival
context. Musically the cintu has some similarities with the kummi song. Like the
ryhthmic features with kummi song the prevelance of triple meter sometimes in
tension with duple meter but also other meters. Unlike kummi, cintu is named for
particular kinds of activity with which it is associated and is thus similar to
occasional songs such as marriage songs or instrumental melodies from rituals or
dances.
 Bibliography

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University Press, 2004)

(b) L.Annapoorna, New Dimensions of Indian Music,Dance And Drama (New Delhi:
Sudeep Prakashan, 1998)

(c) Alison Arnold, 'South India Tamil Nadu', Richard K.Wolf and Zoe C. Sherinian,
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903-928.

(d) Ravishankar Meera, 'Journeys English Course' (New Delhi: Dorling Kindersley,
2007)

(e) Sruti Jauhari, Elements of Hindustani Classical Music (New Delhi: D.K.
Printworld (P) Ltd, 2011)

(f) T.K. Venkatasubramanian, Music as History in Tamil Nadu (New Delhi: Primus
Books, 2010)

(g) Margret A. Mills, Peter J. Claus, Sarah Diamond, South Asian Folklore: an
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(h) R. S. Santhakumari, Folk Songs of Kongunadu with Special Reference to Kummi

Songs (New Delhi: P. V. Viswanathan, 2005)

(i) Manorma Sharma, Musical Heritage of India (New Delhi: APH Publishing, 2007)
(j) Guru Rao Bapat, Gururao V. Bapat, Re-Scribing Tradition: Modernisation of
South Indian Dance-drama (New Delhi: Indian Institute of Advanced Study, 2012)