முகவீணை ~ Mukha Veena at Kuram Temple

 

Sound of music –  an odd looking Nadaswaram !!    ~  காற்றில் மிதந்து வரும் இசையில் இங்கே ஒரு காற்று கருவி.

 

At every Temple – the air is vibrant as there is divine music in the ear as one nears Temple !  - this is music in the air  - a wind instrument, one that fascinates in an art form where generally melody instruments dominate !  

A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator (usually a tube) in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into (or over) a mouthpiece set at or near the end of the resonator. The pitch of the vibration is determined by the length of the tube and by manual modifications of the effective length of the vibrating column of air. In the case of some wind instruments, sound is produced by blowing through a reed; others require buzzing into a metal mouthpiece, while yet others require the player to blow into a hole at an edge, which splits the air column and creates the sound.  

Nadaswaram & Thavil is regular combo in Temples; at Thiruvallikkeni –  this has the name of Veena but is more of a mini-Nadaswaram.

அண்மையில் கூரம் திருக்கோவில் - ஸ்ரீ கூரத்தாழ்வான் உத்சவம் சேவிக்க சென்ற போது - இந்த மங்கள இசை கேட்டேன்.  இடம் :  திருக்கச்சி அருகே உள்ள கூரம் கிராமம் - ஸ்ரீ ஆதிகேசவ பெருமாள் கோவில் -  முக வீணை இசை - கலைஞர் :  லிவிங்ஸ் மணிகண்டன்

துளைக்கருவி (Aerophones) என்பன   காற்றைப் பயன்படுத்தி, துளையிடப்பட்ட குழல் வழியே ஒலியை எழுப்பும் தொன்மையான இசைக்கருவிகள் ஆகும். மூங்கில், உலோகம் அல்லது மரத்தினால் செய்யப்பட்டு, புல்லாங்குழல், நாதசுரம், கிளாரினெட் போன்றன  இதற்கு முக்கிய உதாரணங்களாகும். வண்டு துளைத்த மூங்கில் குழல் வழி காற்றுச் செல்லும்போது எழுந்த ஓசையைக் கேட்டு, இதன் அடிப்படை உருவானதாகக் கருதப்படுகிறது.

 

இங்கே காண்பது முகவீணை. பெயரில் வீணையை தாங்கி இருந்தாலும் இது சிறிய நாதஸ்வரம் போன்றதே.  இது கிட்டத்தட்ட வட இந்திய ஷெனாய்  போன்றது.  வட இந்தியாவில் ஷெனாய்  மங்களவாத்தியம் அனால் .  தென்னிந்தியாவிலோ, ஷெனாய் சோகமான இசையையே அதிகமாக காட்டுவதாக உள்ளது.

முகவீணை (Mukha Veena) என்பது நாதசுவரத்தின் ஆதி வடிவமாகக் கருதப்படும், சுமார் 1½ அடி உயரம் கொண்ட ஒரு பண்டைய துளைக் கருவி.  கட்டைக்குழல் என்றும் அழைக்கப்படும் இது, மதுரை, விருதுநகர், தூத்துக்குடி பகுதிகளில் அரிதாகப் பயன்பாட்டில் உள்ளது. பெயர் வீணை என்றாலும், இது காற்றினால் இசைக்கப்படும் ஷெனாய் போன்ற ஒரு தந்தி வாத்தியம் அல்லாத கருவியாகும்.  குட்டையானது மற்றும் சிறியது. துளைகளுடன் கூடிய குழல் அமைப்பு கொண்டது. இது பரவலாகப் பயன்பாட்டில் உள்ள பாரி நாதசுவரத்திற்கு முந்தைய ஆதி வடிவம் என்றும் கூறப்படுகிறது.  இக்கலை மிகவும் அரிதாகி வரும் நிலையில், சில கலைஞர்களால் மட்டுமே தற்போது வாசிக்கப்படுகிறது. நம் திருவல்லிக்கேணி ஸ்ரீபார்த்தசாரதி திருக்கோவிலில் இராப்பத்து முடிந்து எம்பெருமான் பனிப்போர்வையுடன் சந்நிதிக்கு திரும்பும் போது இந்த வாத்யம் இசைக்கப்படுகிறது.

The mukha veena  is a smaller version of the nadaswaram, generally  about a foot and a half in length. Curiously the name “mukhavina” literally translates to “mouth – veena”.  The bell is made of wood, and the reed assembly is a diminutive form of the nadaswaram’s

Here is a video taken at Kooram temple and couple of photos of the thirukkovil Nadaswaram artiste Livings Manikandan.

Regards – S Sampathkumar
4.2.2026

 

 

Cows of Triplicane

 

Cows of Triplicane

 

good photography is about angles and subject lines

some famous theatres - Madurai Thangam, Thanga Regal; Trichy Kalaiarangam

Though I am not greatly enthused by Cinema – I am attracted by the many theatres  that dot(ted) Mount Road – [from : Santhi, Anna,  Devi complex, Alankar, Wellington, Plaza, Alankar, Midlands, Anand, Saffire and more..] In Kakinada, there was the Cinema road, which housed so many cinema theatres.  The older ones of Chennai  would include Crown Talkies ,Murugan Talkies,  Gaiety, Casino, Chtira, Paragon, Wellington, New Elphinstone, Minerva, Star – and I had posted about Padmanabha theatre in Walltax road (V.O. Chidambaram Stret)

Madurai on the banks of River Vaigai is a great place closely associated with Tamil literature – the place of Tamil sangams.  The land of Pandiyas and Thirumalai Nayak which has a bench of Madras High Court is often portrayed in Tamil films for its violence and depicted as though people roam with arivals !

In this part of the World, Cinema is a powerful medium – many of the heroes nurture political ambition as some has encashed their online popularity into votes and political power.  Cinema is capable of bringing together people from different strata of society – not providing entertainment but even nurturing their political ambition.

In a recent visit – saw a building being demolished [very common in any other city] – what was uncommon was that the vast tract of land [which reportedly is in some legal dispute] once housed the famous ‘Thangam Theatre’ credited as the largest cinema hall in Asia during its inception, and hence a popular landmark.  The cinema hall, located on the West Perumal Maistry Street, could seat 2,563 persons officially, spread over more than 52,000 square feet, and which gave the movie-goers a unique visual experience because of its technically superior structure.  The huge hall which once housed thousands of persons cheering their heroes is no more …  Thangam Theatre had drawn crowds from distant places in Madurai and nearby areas.  Film buffs recall that Parasakthi, released in 1952, and Nadodi Mannan in 1958 were mega hits. A critic pointed out that Thangam was goldmine for the distributors who wanted quick collection but not the preferred one for Stars due to its capacity.

And nearer the Railway Station – saw another – touted to be the oldest one – ‘Thanga Regal’ theatre – which in colonial times was a conference hall equipped with library named Victoria hall.  Established in 1902, it perhaps was the first of the closed auditoriums.  It is known for its architecture too. 

Jumping to the nearby Trichy [Trichinolopy Jn] – there obviously are many here too.  Nearer the Trichy bus stand / Railway station, saw this theatre which looked quite neat and attractive.  It is Kalai Arangam theatre.  It is stated that the premises comprises of a vacant land of an extent of 2.5 acres and a constructed building area of 34200 sq.ft. known as the Kalaiarangam in the heart of Trichy belonging to the State.  The said land was under the administrative control of the then Municipality of Trichy (now Corporation of Tiruchirapalli).  According to a report in 1962, the Dist Collector organised a cattle fair and generated a surplus of revenue.  An association was formed and regularly the place was rented out.  Today, it is a movie hall of 1260 capacity sporting a smart look, an airconditioned one at that.

To those who have been born and brought up in Metropolis – it is quite an experience to go for a movie in a village theatre, more so, if it were to be a ‘touring talkies’………. [do they exist now ?]

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

5^th Nov. 2014.

Miss Honduras gets killed without getting to Miss World Pageant

Honduras  is a republic in Central America. It was at times referred to as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize. Honduras was home to several important Mesoamerican cultures, most notably the Maya, prior to being conquered by Spain in the sixteenth century.  Once part of Spain's vast empire in the New World, Honduras became an independent nation in 1821. After two and a half decades of mostly military rule, a freely elected civilian government came to power in 1982.  The country is in news – for wrong reasons.

The Miss World pageant is the oldest surviving major international beauty pageant, created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. The winner spends a year travelling to represent the Miss World Organisation and its various causes. The current Miss World is Megan Young of the Philippines who was crowned on September 28, 2013 in Bali, Indonesia. Traditionally Miss World lives in London during her reign.

This post is about the girl who would have flown to London to compete in the Miss World pageant the high point of her reign as Miss Honduras. Sadly, it is not to happen - the beauty queen and her sister were found shot dead on a remote river bank, and police said the sister’s boyfriend confessed to killing them in a jealous rage over his girlfriend dancing with another man. Bodies believed to be 19-year-old Maria Jose Alvarado and her 23-year-old sister, Sofia, were discovered buried near the spa where they disappeared a week earlier while celebrating the boyfriend’s birthday. At some point during the night of November 13, 2014, a heated argument broke out and Plutarco Ruiz pulled a gun, firing first at his girlfriend and then at Alvarado as she tried to flee, said National Police director, Gen. Ramon Sabillon. Alvarado was hit twice in the back.  Alvarado was to have boarded a flight to London to compete in the Miss World pageant, the winner of which will be crowned on December 14.

The sisters’ mother, Teresa Munoz, told Televicentro  that  her daughters were trusting and naive. “They were not very astute about assessing the people around them. They were just friendly,” Ms. Munoz said. “They were going out with people they hadn’t known very long.”  In connection to crime, Ruiz’s brother reportedly had  met a violent end, gunned down in a restaurant in San Pedro Sula in February by men carrying AK47s.

The shooting deaths of Alvarado and her sister highlight what experts call an alarming trend of violence against women in Central America, fuelled by poverty, domestic violence, street gangs, drug trafficking and a culture of chauvinism. According to a report by the United Nations, murders of women and girls in Honduras increased by 263 per cent between 2005 and 2013. The country has the highest murder rate in the world for a country not at war, with an estimated 90 to 95 killings per 100,000 people. An official is quoted as saying that a lot of girls die this way, but because they’re not famous, it doesn’t get the attention and the crimes go unpunished. 

Beauty pageants are popular in Latin America, where the winners are viewed as celebrities and often go on to become entertainers. The winner of this year Maria Jose Alvarado has died without ever getting a chance to further her reputation.

Koyal Rana, an Indian model was crowned Femina Miss India 2014 beauty pageant and will represent India in Miss World 2014 which is to be  held in London.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

20^th Nov. 2014.