The udukkai, udukai or udukku (

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

: உடுக்கை) is a member of the family of

membranophone A membranophone is any musical instrument which produces sound primarily by way of a vibrating stretched membrane. It is one of the four main divisions of instruments in the original Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification. ...

percussion instruments of India and Nepal used in

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

and prayers in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. The drums are an ancient design of hourglass drums similar to the northern

damaru A damaru ( sa, डमरु, ; Tibetan ཌ་མ་རུ་ or རྔ་ཆུང) is a small two-headed drum, used in Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism. In Hinduism, the damaru is known as the instrument of the deity Shiva, associated with Tant ...

and southern

idakka The ''idakka'' (), also spelt edaykka/edakka, is an hourglass-shaped drum from Kerala in south India. This handy percussion instrument is very similar to the pan-Indian damaru. While the damaru is played by rattling knotted cords against the res ...

. Its shape is similar to other Indian

hourglass drum Hourglass drums are a sub-category of membranophone, or drum, characterized by an hourglass shape. They are also known as ''waisted drums''. Drumheads are attached by laces, which may be squeezed during a performance to alter the pitch. The catego ...

s, having a small snare stretched over one side. They are played with the bare hand, and the pitch may be tered by squeezing the lacing in the middle. It is made of wood or brass and is very portable. It originated in

as well. Other members in the family include thehuruk, hurkî, hurko, hudko or hudka, utukkai. Another non-hourglass drum that is also referred to as udukkai is the

damru A damaru ( sa, डमरु, ; Tibetan ཌ་མ་རུ་ or རྔ་ཆུང) is a small two-headed drum, used in Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism. In Hinduism, the damaru is known as the instrument of the deity Shiva, associated with Tant ...

(while in the hands of

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

Hudukkâ

Known from xiii th century , this is a drum barrel converted hourglass by adding membranes wide overhanging ends. The kuddukâ is similar but does not grelotet is played with the stick. It is still used in ritual Kerala music by the Marârs caste and forms of folk dances. Given its small size, it also accompanies traveling musicians. These drums are characterized by a modifiable tension of the pitch of the sound during the play and thus have a melodic vocation as much as rhythmic. Characteristics 48cm long and 18cm in diameter, the body of the instrument is carved from wood. The cow or goat skin membranes are glued to a thick (2 cm) ring (22 cm in diameter) in vegetable fiber pierced with six holes through which a cotton tension cord passes, also allowing the membrane to be held in place by lacing in W. Bells are attached to the lacing. Playing This armpit drum is suspended by means of a strap from the percussionist's left shoulder. The right hand strikes the skin while the left hand ensures the variations in tension by tightening the central part of the rope covered with a wide cotton strip.

Huruk

Known since the xvi th century in northern India. It receives various names: hurki (Uttar Pradesh), dâk or deru (Rajasthan), daklû (Gujarat) and guruki (Maharashtra). Characteristics It is 25 cm long with 15 cm diameter goat membranes attached to a bamboo or fig tree ring protruding from the body of the instrument. They are held in place by a Y-shaped cotton lacing passing through six holes. At the junction of the inverted cones, a shoulder strap is attached. Playing The left hand grasps the lacing and holds the instrument while only the right strikes it on the only front face. The instrument accompanies the karkâ (martial ballad of Rajasthan and Punjab) and folk dances.

Hudko

It is found as much in northern India as in Nepal. Played at festivals by Damai musicians from the far western Nepali

Seti Zone Seti ( ne, सेती अञ्चल) was one of the fourteen zones located in the Far-Western Development Region of Nepal. Dhangadhi in the Terai is the major city of Seti Zone; headquarters are in Dipayal-Silgadhi. As of 2015, Nepal discon ...

Mahakali Zone Mahakali ( ne, महाकाली अञ्चल) was one of the fourteen zones located in the Far-Western Development Region of Nepal, covering an area of 6,205 km2 in the most western part of the country. It stretches along Nepal's f ...

and

Kamali Zone Kamali ( fa, اکمالی) means ''perfection, integrity'' and is a Persian surname and may refer to: People * Saeed Kamali Dehghan, Iranian journalist * Hossein Kamali, Iranian politician * Mohammad Hashim Kamali, Afghan scholar * Norma Kamali, Am ...

to accompany recitation of the

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

and folk songs and ceremonies, such as worship, marriage and fasting. Festivals include

Nwaran Nwaran (sometimes Nuwaran or Naamkaran) is a child naming ceremony celebrated in Nepal. In the Hindu tradition, the Nwaran is celebrated on the 8th day of birth for girls, and 9th for boys. This ceremony is performed to give a birth name to a chil ...

and Bratabandha (व्रतबन्ध).

Characteristics

The two headed drum made from wood and copper is 30cm long body x 20cm diameter at drumheads, with a narrow waist. It is hollowed out on the lathe; metal sometimes replaces wood. The tightened part houses a small hole allowing the "breathing" of the instrument. The goatskin membranes are attached to rings laced with a cord providing variable tension.

Playing

It is worn over the shoulder and played by the untouchables. It is again the left hand which holds the instrument by grasping it at the central part while varying the tension and therefore the pitch of the sound, while the right strikes the only playing side. It accompanies folk dances but also jâgar shamanic rituals.

Udukku

The udukku (Kerala) and utukkai (Tamil Nadu) resemble Huruk . They also receive other names: studied , idaisurangu decked and davandai (larger and thicker, played to the stick). Characteristics The body is sometimes made of copper or terracotta. They also have a metal or plant or animal fiber stamp under the left membrane ensuring a specific buzz . Playing It is performed in the temples during rituals where it sometimes replaces the idakka . It also accompanies the songs of viladichanpate harvests .

References

''South Asia : The Indian Subcontinent''. (Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Volume 5). Routledge; Har/Com edition (November 1999). {{ISBN, 978-0-8240-4946-1

External links

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Hand drums Indian musical instruments Membranophones Asian percussion instruments Pitched percussion instruments