If the nagaswaram has helped musicians exploring various aspects of raga alapana , thavil , as a percussion instrument, has set the standard for other percussion instruments, said musicologist B.M. Sundaram.
Addressing the 27{+t}{+h}Pongal Nagaswara festival of Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, he said thavil is one of the ancient instruments and it was created to wake up Kumbakarna from his sleep.
Arunagirinathar, the author of Thiruppugazh , had also made a reference to the instrument.
Mr. Sundaram said Seshampatti Sivalingam, one of the recipients of the Sangeetha Choodamani, is a nagaswaram exponent who has been able to emerge as a great performer even though the nagaswaram music world has always been dominated by musicians from Thanjavur district.
Thavil exponent Tiruvalaputhur T.A. Kaliyamurthy and Thanjavur R. Govindararajan were also given the award.
Former judge of the Madras High Court, M. Karpaga Vinayagam, conferred the awards on the musicians. President of the Sabha, Nalli Kuppusami Chetty, and general secretary, Y. Prabhu, were also present.
Thavil , an ancient instrument, was created to wake up Kumbakarna from
his sleep, said musicologist
B.M. Sundaram
