The Kannur Central prison here will have a captive percussion ensemble to give rhythms to functions and festivities on the jail premises as 11 inmates trained in ‘chenda’ performance were handed over the traditional percussion instrument offered by actor Jayaram, who himself is a ‘chenda’ artiste, on Sunday.
At a function at the jail, Congress MLA A.P. Abdullakutty joined the jail inmates to perform the traditional percussion to mark the inauguration of the handing over of the instrument to them held under the aegis of the Jayaram Fans Association.
The inmates had been trained by percussion artiste Prakashan Pazhambalakode. Jail Superintendent Ashokan Arippa was present at the function.
Representatives of the fans association said though the actor himself had planned to visit the jail and hand over the instruments, he cancelled it because of his busy schedule at a film set.
Jayaram would visit the jail in June or July and play with the inmates, they said.
Ten ‘chendas’ were given to the troupe at the function. According to the fans association representatives, Jayaram’s gesture followed a letter sent by one of the inmates trained in chenda performance to the actor saying that they could not practice because of the lack of own instruments.
