Learn the mṛdaṅga as seva
Mridanga Seva is a volunteer-run class in Abids, Hyderabad, that teaches the mṛdaṅga, the two-headed drum played in kīrtana. Teaching and learning are offered as seva, service.
What the seva is
Students come to the class when it suits them during the open hours, learn at their own pace and move up through three levels: Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. Volunteer coordinators teach and keep track of each student's progress; the facilitator assesses each step up to a new level. Children are welcome with a parent's or guardian's consent.
The class is starting with a pilot from – , and opens fully on .
The mṛdaṅga
The mṛdaṅga, also called the khol in Bengal, is a long drum with two heads: a small, high-pitched head on the right (dāyāṅ) and a large bass head on the left (bāyāṅ). The name comes from Sanskrit mṛt, “clay”, and aṅga, “body”: the traditional drum has a clay body with skin heads laced on with leather straps. It accompanies kīrtana, the singing of the holy names together.
Each head has rings with their own names and sounds, from the braided rim to the black centre (syāhī). A student learns the strokes (bols) first, then the rhythms that carry a kīrtana.
The mṛdaṅga taught here is not the South Indian mridangam of Carnatic music, which is a different drum with its own strokes and rhythms.
A short history
The clay mṛdaṅga is closely tied to the saṅkīrtana movement of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in Bengal in the 15th and 16th centuries, when singing the holy names together in the streets spread across the region. Since then it has been played in devotional singing across eastern India.
Clay drums break easily and react to heat and damp. In the 1970s, drums with a fibreglass body and synthetic heads were developed so that the mṛdaṅga could travel and be played outdoors, in rain and sun. Today both kinds are played: clay for its sound, fibreglass for its strength.
Where and when
The class meets in Abids, Hyderabad. To confirm: the address of the class, and whether to publish it