December is the month of Margazhi Uthsavam – the thiruvizha of Carnatic music in Chennai.
There are so many Sabhas and many great vidwans exhibit their prowess in Shastriya sangeetham – for the vocalist, the primary accompaniments would be : Tambura, Veenba, Violin, Mridungam, Harmonium, Flute, Kanjira, Morsing .. .. .. .. and Ghatam !
The ghaṭam (கடம்) is a percussion instrument used in various repertoires across the Indian subcontinent, especially in Southern India . Its variant is played in Punjab and known as gharha as it is a part of Punjabi folk traditions. Its analog in Rajasthan is known as the madga and pani mataqa ("water jug"). The name ghaṭam is etymologically derived from the Sanskrit term ghaṭa (pot) and the related term, kuṇḍa (pitcher). The cognate term for pot in Tamil is kuḍam (water pot). It is noteworthy that in Tamil the term ghaṭam specifically carries the meaning of a percussive musical instrument, although in Sanskrit it is a generic word for a pot of any kind.
The ghatam is one of the most ancient percussion instruments. It primarily is a clay pot with a narrow mouth. From the mouth, it slants outwards to form a ridge. Made mainly of clay baked with brass or copper filings with a small amount of iron filings, the pitch of the ghatam varies according to its size. Although the ghatam is the same shape as an ordinary Indian domestic clay pot, it is made specifically to be played as an instrument. The tone of the pot must be good and the walls should be of even thickness to produce an even tone and nice sound.
Understand that Ghatams are mostly manufactured in Manamadurai, a place near Madurai in Tamil Nadu. Though this instrument is manufactured in other places like Chennai and Bangalore, too, Manamadurai ghatams have special tonal quality. It is believed that the mud is of special quality. The Manamadurai ghaṭam is a heavy, thick pot with tiny shards of brass mixed into the clay. This type of ghaṭam is harder to play but produces a sharp metallic ringing sound which is favored by some players.
One of the great exponents of Ghatam is a famous son of Triplicane -
Thetakudi Harihara Vinayakram (1942] also known as Vikku Vinayakram is a Grammy award winning Indian percussionist. He started playing Ghatam from his young age of 13 and has accompanied many famous vocalists in Carnatic music at the time, including Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna, G. N. Balasubramaniam, Madurai Mani Iyer, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, M. S. Subbulakshmi and Maharajapuram Santhanam. He has been conferred many awards including : Hafiz Ali Khan Award for “unmatched contribution in the field of music” in the year 2000.
Continuing family traditions, his son Uma Shankar is a renowned Ghatam artiste. He gave performances at the age of five at his grandfather’s school. When he was only 12 years old, Umashankar accompanied the celebrated T. V. Gopalakrishnan in Kanchipuram, which led to his role as a popular accompanist in classical Carnatic music. He has performed with T. M. Krishna, Vijay Siva, Sanjay Subramaniam, Unni Krishnan, Ganesh Kumaresh, Nithyashree Mahadevan, the Priya Sisters, and Sudha Raghunathan.
Yesterday at Sri Peyalwar Thirukkovil Triplicane - Margazhi Isai Kondattam – it was Rajesh Vaidya on Veena with Umashankar accompanying on Ghatam. Here are couple of photos and a short video. : https://youtube.com/shorts/TFxi7eB82E4
Away from this - Ghadam was a king (mepe) of Iberia (Kartli, modern eastern Georgia) whose three years of reign are scarcely recorded in the medieval Georgian chronicles. The king’s name is surmised by modern scholars to be a corrupted form of Rhadamistus, not an uncommon name in the ancient Caucasian royal and noble families. According to the Georgian annals, Ghadam was the son of P’arsman the Good, who is the Pharasmanes, king of the Iberians, of Cassius Dio and some other Classical authors. He died after three years of reign, leaving the regency of his one-year-old son, P’arsman, in the hands of his mother Ghadana of Armenia.
Regards – S Sampathkumar
31.12.2024
