It was the late Thiruvilwamala Venkichan Swamy who redefined the scope and significance of the maddalam, both in Kathakali and in Panchavadyam, in the early decades of the 20th century. Since then, there has been no dearth of talented maddalam players in these two art forms. Most artistes of the day specialise in playing maddalam either for Kathakali or Panchavadyam.
However, a few percussionists have proved themselves to be versatile by playing for both with equal felicity. Kalamandalam Hariharan, the first maddalam artiste to receive the prestigious Ustad Bismillah Khan Puraskar (2017) instituted by the Sangeet Natak Akademy, is one such well-known percussionist in both the fields.
As the son of Maddalam wizard Cherpulachery Sivan, Hariharan had an early exposure to the percussion instrument. From his father, Hariharan learnt the fundamental lessons and soon became conversant with ‘keli’ that tests the adroitness of a maddalam artiste. He later joined Kerala Kalamandalam and mastered the techniques of playing the instrument for purappad (invocation), melappadam (performance by vocalists and percussionists as a prelude to Kathakali) and for a wide variety of characters in various episodes. Kalamandalam Narayanan Nair and Ramadas were two main teachers who groomed him in Kathakali.
After the completion of his course in maddalam at Kalamandalam, Hariharan became a noted presence in Kathakali and Panchavadyam. “Supporting outstanding Kathakali artistes by tracing their movements and expressions on the maddalam has been an enriching experience for me,” he says. Playing the instrument in harmony with myriad emotions of the characters helped him understand in practical terms the symmetry between strokes and melody. Hariharan’s father always insist that his disciples to be forceful in beats, saying only those who can play emphatically on the maddalam can realise the worth of mellow sounds too. The son has heeded this advice.
Kalamandalam Hariharan
Except for Melappadam , Kathakali does not offer percussionists infinite freedom to improvise on stage. Their performances are almost always bound by the actors’ acumen in angika and satwika . On the contrary, maddalam in Panchavadyam is next in importance to thimila. The slowest tempo in which Panchavadyam begins and the fifth tempo offer tremendous possibilities to percussionists. Hariharan has displayed his skill in changing the natas (rhythmic cadence) to thishram (six beats), khandam (five beats) and mishram (seven beats), especially in the fifth tempo. His ‘na’karam, ‘dhim’ karam, chappu and pothu (four positions on the maddalam) are decipherable and spectacular at the same time.
While accompanying male characters in Kathakali, with its high-decibel sound, the chenda dominates occasionally and the role of the maddalam is mostly confined to plugging the loopholes left by the chenda player. But, for all the female characters, the maddalam is the principal percussion instrument. Effecting appropriate sound modulations with the dexterity of his fingers and with a strong grip over the tempos, Hariharan has been able to provide rhythmic elegance to the lasya segments of female-charaterisation. Be it Damayanthi, Mohini, Chitralekha or the Lalithas on stage, his fingers on the maddalam enliven the actions and expressions of these characters.
Hariharan is perseverance personified during Panchavadyam recitals. However, he may still have to liberate himself from the overwhelming influence of his father. More than anyone else, Hariharan is fully conscious of a legacy that cannot be done away with so easily.
