Even as serene Devanahalli may boast of its glamorous international airport, the modest town, located 40 kms north-east of Bangalore, is grounded with an inbuilt pride. The area’s speciality mud has helped carry forward a hoary tradition, the making of the percussion instrument ‘Ghata.’ Devanahalli’s mud is said to possess a composition most suited for pots. And Ghata-making is a 100-year-old vocation being pursued by 44-year-old D.K. Gopal, the only family in Bangalore that has hands-on contact with the clay for making the musical instrument. Nearly 60 pieces are sold in a month and exported too.
Gopal’s family belonging to the Kumbara Beedi of Maralu Baagilu in Devanahalli has always lived alongside the pot-makers of the area, but it is the bond with music that led his forefathers to lay their hands on Ghata-making. “My grand-father Munishyamappa conducted bhajans at the nearby Kumbeshwara Temple every Saturday,” recalls Gopal, who has learnt 20 varnas and 40 kritis and passed exams in music. Gopal’s family even includes violinists, vocalists, tabla-and harmonium players. “My vocal knowledge helps me immensely as we make a variety of Ghatas to suit every shruti,” he says. “My father Krishnappa had specially made a Ghata for the veteran K.S. Manjunath, and later on for Bangalore K. Venkatram too on personal requests,” says Gopal. “One of his deft creations remains showcased in the Government Museum on Kasturba Road even today,” says Gopal.
Just as Manamadurai in interior Tamil Nadu where the musical Ghatas are made, Devanahalli’s pot is a mixture of three varieties of mud gathered from in and around the three lakes of the area for the perfect blend – the Devanahalli kere’s red clay for the sheen, the Bhuvanahalli kere’s dark-toned clay for the conch-like naada, and the Venkatagiri kere’s mix of shades that not only balances the sound, but makes the Ghata strong. “While we mix the three varieties with water, it is in the singularly unique kneading with hands and foot and the addition of metals that makes it compatible for melodic tapping,” explain Gopal and his son G. Mahesh. These craftsmen tap nearly a thousand times on their “sacred pots” with special tools for the “right thickness that brings in the required shruti.” They are meticulously sun-and-shade dried, and then burnt in natural coconut-husk furnaces. It takes 25 days to make a single pot, and they cost anywhere between Rs. 850 to Rs. 2000 a piece.
Gopal and Mahesh explain that Ghata is an instrument purely made from the five elements of Nature. “We start work with a prayer to Lord Kumbeshwara. The Ghata’s resonances - Akaara, Ukaara, Makaara and Omkaara - are considered comprehensive. Most saint-poets as Basavanna, Sarvagna and Kabirdas referred to the ‘Ghata’ as a metaphor to human body in their poems,” explains Gopal.
With the international airport at Devanahalli now, furnaces for baking the pots are not allowed as the process emanates smoke. So Gopal is exploring newer technologies in controlled environment, with a marketing unit set up at Byatarayanapura.
The research
Sumana Chandrashekar, Programme Executive, India Foundation for the Arts, has done a research study on ghata. Sumana, a student of Sukanya Ramgopal says, the Devanahalli Ghata is a lighter one when compared to the Manamadurai instrument. “While both have their unique tonal effects and are equally used in Carnatic music, the Devanahalli Ghata is easier to carry and play on, while the Manamadurai pot is a heavier version that can withstand intense thumps,” she says. Actually, the technique for playing both these instruments have evolved over the years in response to the way these instruments have included their material composition, she added.
First lady ghata player
The first girl to hold the Ghata on her lap in the world of percussion was the 12-year-old Sukanya Ramgopal, a student of the veteran Vikku Vinayakram. Originally from Tamil Nadu, the 57-year-old Bangalore-based Ghata artiste has had to boldly tackle the gender discrimination she witnessed quite often on stage. “My guru nurtured and guided me into the Vinayakram schooling, as well as helped me get used to the heavy Manamadurai Ghata. Today I take part in several percussion festivals across the globe,” she says. Sukanya’s four decade career has helped her lead an all-women ensemble, Sthree Thaal Tharang, where she handles six Ghatas at a time, making them fundamental to the concert.
The Devanahalli Ghata
My father used the Devanahalli Ghata for nearly six decades, says V. Krishna, mridangist, son of the Ghata-ace (Late) Bangalore K. Venkatram. Venkatram, who had one specially made from Krishnappa of the Devanahalli family in the early 1960s, is said to have preferred the Ghata to have an easier entry to performing on stage when there was a dearth of Ghata players and a surfeit of mridangists. Venkatram loved the Devanahalli Ghata as its not-so-thick composition produced defined modulations even with feather-soft touches. Venkatram’s percussion ensemble, Laya Vrushti too helped discover the potential of Indian percussive instruments. His deep study of the Ghata had him once showcase the exceptionally rare low-pitched beats when he accompanied Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar who had reacted in wonder to say, “This is Ghatoth Ghata.”
