Kerala Music

Musically Kerala presents a pageant not to found anywhere in India, both in its folk and its art form. Kerala Music has its origin in the primitive plays and dances. It is possible that different kinds of rhythms in the nature made the primitive people dance and sing in conformity with the rhythm.

In the sangam age there were poets, who composed songs under the royal patronage. The wandering minstrels represented another group which also enjoyed the protection of the Kings and other rulers. The local Kerala folk music, though not refined, is enriched with the rugged beauty that is really genuine with the rhyme and rhythm and is mostly devotional in nature. Bhadrakalipattu, Sopanasangita and Ayyappanpattu are indigenous style of classical music developed in the temples of Kerala and also have greatly contributed to the growth of music culture in Kerala.

Kerala Folk Music

Kerala has a commendable record in folk music and light music. The Vadakkan Pattukal, Thekkan Pattukal, wedding songs Kalyana Pattukal, Muslim folklore songs Mappila Pattukal represents the folk music of Kerala. Some of the dance forms like Kaikottikkali, Kummi, Kolattam, Ayappan Pattu add to the list of folk songs of Kerala which are sung in connection with such art forms. The boat songs or Vanchipattukal sung in connection with the boat regattas also falls in this category. Light music is also a rich heritage in Kerala and is now widely used in Malayalam theatre and cinema.

Swati Tirunal Kritis (a patron of art & music)

Maharaja Swati Tirunal Rama Varma of Tranvacore was a great musicians & composer among the Kings. His reign has been called the ‘Hey Day’ in Kerala musical history. He was a patron of Kerala music and art. His court was adorned with glittering stars of the age. Ananthapadmanabha Goaswami, popularly known as Meruswami, who contributed considerably to the growth of Hindustani and Carnatic music soon became the music teacher of Swati Tirunal. Under his guidance an extra ordinary genius Swati Triunal became well versed in not only in South Indian Music but he extended his patron in Sanskrit, Malayalam, Telugu, Kandada, Hindustani, Hindi, English, Mohiniyattam, Bharatnatyam, Kathakali and much more.

Other renowned musicians who adorned the court of Swati Tirunal were Vativelu, Ponnayya, Chinnayya, Sivanandam and Subbukutti Ayyaa.

Sopanasangitam (Temple music)

Sopanasangita is an indigenous classical music developed in the temples of Kerala. Gita Govinda or Ashtapadi of Jayadeva contributed much for the development of Sopanasangitam. These songs are believed to have acquired its name from the Sopana or flight of steps leading to the Srikovil (the place for the ritual singing of Ashtapadi).

The songs are sung in the temples of Kerala with the drum beat of Idakka and the musicians who sing Sopana Sangeetham are known as Maaran.

Marars and Kurups who were hereditary experts in soopanasangitam are now rare and are only found in few temples like Guruvayoor, Vaikom, Ambalappuzha, Thrissur, Chottanikkara, Thripunithura, Thrippayar, etc.

Instrumental Music

Kerala has several popular musical instruments. They may be grouped into percussions, wind and stringed instruments. Drums are the commonest Kerala musical instruments. They are basically of two shapes, the nearly spherical (matthalam) and the cylindrical (thudi). Wind instruments are flutes and pipes (kuyal). Stringed instruments are rare. The Kanikkar use a kokra, originally a serrated bamboo tube (now metal), sounded by drawing a hardwood stick across the serrations.

The temple vadyas are Chenda Melam, Tayambaka and Panchavadyam. All these Kerala musical instruments are associated with temple festivals. The unique characteristic of these instruments are the immense dexterity shown in the synchronizing the sounds of these instruments played at different pitches.

Other Cultural Activities In Kerala

Kerala Theatre || Kerala Architecture