FEATURE
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Regional
Sidelines
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Dr K. Parameswaran*
The Thanjavur Veena - one of the most ancient and revered musical
instruments of South India - is all set to receive the Geographical Indication
tag (GI). Dr Chinnaraja.G.Naidu, Geographical Indications Registry, Chennai
revealed that the application for GI Tag for the Thanjavur Veena is in the
examination stage and that the formalities in respect of registration of
Geographical Indication status is expected to be complete by March 2013 itself.
The veena, in general, has been
described as a complete instrument. The four playing strings and the three
drone strings of the veena together provide all the basic components of
classical music – sruti and laya – all in a single instrument. There is no
other instrument with this quality.
The
noble prize winning physicist Sir C.V. Raman has described the veena as having
a unique construction. The string terminations at both ends are curved and not
sharp. Also, the frets have much more curvature than any other instrument.
Unlike in guitar, the string does not have to be pushed down to the very base
of the neck and thus the possibility of generating a rattling sound is
completely avoided. This design enables a continuous control over the string
tension, which produces more harmonics than any other instrument.
What is GI?
A Geographical Indication is used to
identify agricultural, natural or manufactured goods originating in a
particular area. The Geographical Indications Registry has specified that such
goods must have special qualities or characteristics unique to the geographical
indication.
The GI differs from a Trade Mark in
that a trade mark is a
sign which is used in the course of trade and it distinguishes goods or
services of one enterprise from those of other enterprises, while a
Geographical Indication is used to identify goods having special
characteristics originating from a definite geographical territory.
While
registration of Geographical indication is not compulsory, it offers better
legal protection for action for infringement. The registration of a
Geographical Indication is usually for a period of ten years. It can also be
renewed for a further period of ten years each. If a registration is not
renewed after a period of ten years, the particular item is liable to be
removed from the GI register.
The
application for GI Tag for the Thanjavur Veena was submitted by The Thanjavur
Musical Instruments Workers Co-operative Cottage Industrial Society Limited,
facilitated by the Tamil Nadu State Council for Science & Technology. The
application was submitted in June 2010.
Uniqueness of Thanjavur Veena
The
handiwork of the Thanjavur Veena is unique to the artisans who have domicile in an around the town of
Thanjavur. This town lies on the South East coast of Tamil Nadu in the
culturally distinct and predominantly agrarian and rural Thanjavur district.
The variety of wood used to make the
Thanjavur Veena is from a particular strain of matured Jackwood tree, which is
unique to Thanjavur area. The craftsmanship and the skill in making the
functional resonator (Kudam) of the veena is also unique to the Thanjavur Veena.
What is a
Thanjavur Veena?
The Thanjavur Veena is about four
feet in length. It has a large, round body with a thick, wide neck, the end of
which is carved into the head of a dragon. A small resonator is attached to the
underside of the neck. Thanjavur Veena has 24 fixed frets (mettu), so that all
ragas could be played. These 24 metal frets are embedded with hardened
bees-wax, mixed with charcoal powder.
There are two types of Thanjavur
Veena - Ekantha Veena and Sada Veena. Ekantha Veena is carved from a single block
of wood, while Sada Veena has joints. Both the types of veenas are beautifully
painted and carved and this makes them unmistakably distinct and elegant from
other veenas.
History
Veena
is one of the three celestial musical instruments, having references from Vedic
times (along with the Flute and the Mridangam). The fact that Saraswathi, the
goddess of Art, is always identified with Veena, markedly symbolizes that music
(synonymous with veena) has primary importance among all forms of fine arts.
Saga Narada, who is believed to have
blessed St. Thyagaraja with his treatise on Sangeetha Shastra (St. Thyagaraja
has acknowledged the guru status of Narada), was himself an exponent in veena
and played one called Mahathi.
Mahakavi Kalidasa is believed to
have commenced his poetic career with the famous sloka on Saraswathi, beginning
“Manikya veenam upalalayantheem. There are five references to the veena in his
Navarathnamala – a composition of 9 verses.
The valuable publication of
Publications Division of the Government entitled “Musical Instruments of India”
(by S Krishnaswami, 1993) says that Raghunatha Nayak, Ruler of Thanjavur (1614
- 1632), and his prime minister and musicologist Govinda Dikshita modified the
then existing veena - the Saraswati Veena - with 24 fixed frets (mettu), so
that all ragas could be played. Hence the name “Thanjavur Veena” and to this
day Ragunatha Nayak is considered to be the Father of the Thanjavur Veena.
It is also of note that the earlier
version the veena had less than twenty movable frets which had to be adjusted.
The fixing of the frets (twelve for each octave) paved the way for the
development of the famous scheme of seventy-two melakartas of the Carnatic
music system. Thus, it can even be said that the style of presenting Carnatic
music has developed largely around the Thanjavur Veena technique.
How is
Thanjavur Veena Made?
The process of carving the Thanjavur
Veena is pain staking, delicate, time consuming and involves superior
craftsmanship. It is usually made from the wood of the Jackwood tree. The body
is painted and engraved with delicate wood work which usually consists of
pictures of gods and goddesses or motifs of flowers and birds. This gives the
Thanjavur Veena its unique and elegant beauty of appearance.
Famous Veena
Artists
One of the most famous artists of the Carnatic
style of the early 20th century is exclusively known for her
particularly captivating style of veena playing. She was so synonymous with
veena that she was called Veena Dhanammal. The department of Posts had brought
out a stamp in honor of her prowess last year.
The Karaikkudi brothers – one of
whom used to play the veena placing it in the vertical position – were well
known veena players of the yester years.
Emani Sankara Shastri, Doraiswami
Iyengar, the mercurial genius Balachander, M K Kalyanakrishna Bhangavather, K
Venkataraman and M Unnikrishnan from Kerala were all well known veena players
of the 20th century.
The art of veena playing is held
aloft in the 21st century too through such gifted artists like
Prince Rama Varma (of the Travancore royal family), Gayatri,
Ananthapadmananbhan, Dr Jayanthi Kumaresh and a host of others.
Click
here to see Photograph.
(PIB Feature.)
*****
*Assistant Director, PIB, Madurai.
SS-39/SF-39/18-02-2013
RTS/HSN