1.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
2.
Kerala
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Kerala historically known as Keralam, is an Indian state in South India on the Malabar Coast. It was formed on 1 November 1956 following the States Reorganisation Act by combining Malayalam-speaking regions, spread over 38,863 km2, it is bordered by Karnataka to the north and northeast, Tamil Nadu to the east and south, and the Lakshadweep Sea to the west. With 33,387,677 inhabitants as per the 2011 Census, Malayalam is the most widely spoken language and is also the official language of the state. The region has been a prominent spice exporter since 3000 BCE, the Chera Dynasty was the first prominent kingdom based in Kerala, though it frequently struggled against attacks by the neighbouring Cholas and Pandyas. In the 15th century, the spice trade attracted Portuguese traders to Kerala, after independence, Travancore and Cochin joined the Republic of India and Travancore-Cochin was given the status of a state in 1949. In 1956, Kerala state was formed by merging Malabar district, Travancore-Cochin, Hinduism is practised by more than half of the population, followed by Islam and Christianity. The culture is a synthesis of Aryan and Dravidian cultures, developed over millennia, under influences from other parts of India, the production of pepper and natural rubber contributes significantly to the total national output. In the agricultural sector, coconut, tea, coffee, cashew, the states coastline extends for 595 kilometres, and around 1.1 million people in the state are dependent on the fishery industry which contributes 3% to the states income. The state has the highest media exposure in India with newspapers publishing in nine languages, mainly English, Kerala is one of the prominent tourist destinations of India, with backwaters, beaches, Ayurvedic tourism and tropical greenery as its major attractions. The name Kerala has an uncertain etymology, One popular theory derives Kerala from Kera and alam is land, thus land of coconuts, this also happens to be a nickname for the state due to abundance of coconut trees and its use by the locals. The word Kerala is first recorded in a 3rd-century BCE rock inscription left by the Maurya emperor Ashoka, the inscription refers to the local ruler as Keralaputra, or son of Chera. This contradicts the theory that Kera is from coconut tree, at that time, one of three states in the region was called Cheralam in Classical Tamil, Chera and Kera are variants of the same word. The word Cheral refers to the oldest known dynasty of Kerala kings and is derived from the Proto-Tamil-Malayalam word for lake, the earliest Sanskrit text to mention Kerala is the Aitareya Aranyaka of the Rigveda. It is also mentioned in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the two Hindu epics, the Skanda Purana mentions the ecclesiastical office of the Thachudaya Kaimal who is referred to as Manikkam Keralar, synonymous with the deity of the Koodalmanikyam temple. Keralam may stem from the Classical Tamil cherive-alam or chera alam, the Greco-Roman trade map Periplus Maris Erythraei refers to Keralaputra as Celobotra. According to Hindu mythology, the lands of Kerala were recovered from the sea by the warrior sage Parasurama. Parasurama threw his axe across the sea, and the water receded as far as it reached, according to legend, this new area of land extended from Gokarna to Kanyakumari. The land which rose from sea was filled with salt and unsuitable for habitation, so Parasurama invoked the Snake King Vasuki, out of respect, Vasuki and all snakes were appointed as protectors and guardians of the land
3.
Ernakulam district
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Ernakulam is a district of Kerala, India situated in the central part of that state. Spanning an area of about 3,068 km2, Ernakulam district is home to over 12% of Kerala’s population and its headquarters is located at Kakkanad, a suburb of Kochi city. Ernakulam is known as the capital of Kerala. The district is famous for its ancient temples, churches, the district includes the largest metropolitan region of the state, Greater Cochin. Ernakulam district is the highest revenue yielding district in the state and it is the third most populous district in Kerala, after Malappuram and Thiruvananthapuram. Ernakulam district also hosts the highest number of international and domestic tourists in Kerala state, the language spoken in Ernakulam is Malayalam which is the mother-tongue of Kerala. English is widely used, especially in business circles, Ernakulam became Indias first district having 100 percent banking or full meaningful financial inclusion in 2012. The name Ernakulam is derived from Erayanarkulam which means the abode of Lord Shiva, Ernakulam was also known as Rishinagakulam in ancient days. From ancient times Ernakulam district has played a part in the history of south India. The Jews, Syrians, Arabs, Chinese, Dutch, British and Portuguese seafarers followed the sea route to Kingdom of Cochin, in 1896, the Maharaja of Cochin initiated local administration by forming a town council in Ernakulam. Initially Ernakulam districts headquarters was at Ernakulam, which gave the district its name, according to the 2011 census Ernakulam district has a population of 3,282,388, roughly equal to the nation of Mauritania or the US state of Iowa. This gives it a ranking of 104th in India, the district has a population density of 1,069 inhabitants per square kilometre. Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 5. 6%, Ernakulam has a sex ratio of 1028 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 95. 68%. This district is listed as the most advanced district in Kerala and it had a resident population of 3,105,798 as of 2001, excluding the huge commuter traffic from neighbouring districts. Hindus accounts for the largest community followed by Christians and Muslims, a small population of Jains, Jews and Sikhs are also residing in Kochi. Also, Ernakulam district has the highest number of Christian population in India, in addition to the major communities the Buddhists, the Jains, the Sikhs, and the Jews also form part of the cosmopolitan population. The ancestors of the Jews migrated from Jerusalem in 70 A. D. to India, now there are very few Jewish families in Cochin as most of them were converted to Syrian Christians, and the rest migrated to Israel in the 20th century. The 15. 7% of the population are Malayalam speaking Sunni Shafii Muslims, Ernakulam district covers an area of 3,068 km2 located on the Western Coastal Plains of India
4.
Malayalam
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Malayalam /mʌləˈjɑːləm/ is a language spoken in India, predominantly in the state of Kerala. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and was designated as a Classical Language in India in 2013 and it was developed to the current form mainly by the influence of the poet Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan in the 16th century. Malayalam has official status in the state of Kerala and in the union territories of Lakshadweep. It belongs to the Dravidian family of languages and is spoken by some 38 million people, according to one theory, Malayalam originated from Middle Tamil in the 7th century. However, the current understanding proposes the separation of Malayalam from Proto-Dravidian in the pre-historic era, Malayalam incorporated many elements from Sanskrit through the ages. Before Malayalam came into being, Old Tamil was used in literature and courts of a region called Tamilakam, including present day Kerala state, silappatikaramit was written by Chera prince Ilango Adigal from Chunkaparra, and is considered a classic in Sangam literature. Modern Malayalam still preserves many words from the ancient Tamil vocabulary of Sangam literature, the earliest script used to write Malayalam was the Vatteluttu alphabet, and later the Kolezhuttu, which derived from it. As Malayalam began to borrow words as well as the rules of grammar from Sanskrit. This developed into the modern Malayalam script, many medieval liturgical texts were written in an admixture of Sanskrit and early Malayalam, called Manipravalam. The oldest literary work in Malayalam, distinct from the Tamil tradition, is dated from between the 9th and 11th centuries, the first travelogue in any Indian language is the Malayalam Varthamanappusthakam, written by Paremmakkal Thoma Kathanar in 1785. Due to its lineage deriving from both Tamil and Sanskrit, the Malayalam script has the largest number of letters among the Indian language orthographies, the Malayalam script includes letters capable of representing almost all the sounds of all Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages. Malayalam serves as a language on the islands including the Mahl-dominated Minicoy Island. The word Malayalam originated from the Sanskrit resp, Malayalam words malai or mala, meaning hill, and elam, meaning region. Malayalam thus translates as hill region and used to refer to the land of the Chera dynasty, the language Malayalam is alternatively called Alealum, Malayalani, Malayali, Malean, Maliyad, and Mallealle. The word Malayalam originally meant only for the name of the region, Malayanma or Malayayma represented the language. With the emergence of modern Malayalam language, the name of the language started to be known by the name of the region, hence now, the word Malayanma is considered by some to represent the olden Malayalam language. The language got the name Malayalam during the mid 19th century, the origin of Malayalam, an independent offshoot of the proto-Dravidian language, has been and continues to be an engaging pursuit among comparative historical linguists. Together with Tamil, Toda, Kannada and Tulu, Malayalam belongs to the group of Dravidian languages
5.
Vehicle registration plate
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A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate or a license plate, is metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identification purposes. The registration identifier is a numeric or alphanumeric ID that uniquely identifies the owner within the issuing regions database. The first two letters indicate the state to which the vehicle is registered, the next two digit numbers are the sequential number of a district. Due to heavy volume of vehicle registration, the numbers were given to the RTO offices of registration as well, the third part indicates the year of registration of the vehicle and is a 4 digit number unique to each plate. In some countries, the identifier is unique within the entire country, whether the identifier is associated with a vehicle or a person also varies by issuing agency. In the vast majority of jurisdictions, the government holds a monopoly on the manufacturing of vehicle registration plates for that jurisdiction. Thus, it is illegal for private citizens to make and affix their own plates. Alternately, the government will merely assign plate numbers, and it is the owners responsibility to find an approved private supplier to make a plate with that number. In some jurisdictions, plates will be assigned to that particular vehicle for its lifetime. If the vehicle is destroyed or exported to a different country. Other jurisdictions follow a policy, meaning that when a vehicle is sold the seller removes the current plate from the vehicle. Buyers must either obtain new plates or attach plates they already hold, as well as register their vehicles under the buyers name, a person who sells a car and then purchases a new one can apply to have the old plates put onto the new car. One who sells a car and does not buy a new one may, depending on the laws involved, have to turn the old plates in or destroy them. Some jurisdictions permit the registration of the vehicle with personal plates, in some jurisdictions, plates require periodic replacement, often associated with a design change of the plate itself. Vehicle owners may or may not have the option to keep their original plate number, alternately, or additionally, vehicle owners have to replace a small decal on the plate or use a decal on the windshield to indicate the expiration date of the vehicle registration. Plates are usually fixed directly to a vehicle or to a frame that is fixed to the vehicle. Sometimes, the plate frames contain advertisements inserted by the service centre or the dealership from which the vehicle was purchased. Vehicle owners can also purchase customized frames to replace the original frames, in some jurisdictions licence plate frames are illegal
6.
Kochi
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Kochi, also known as Cochin, is a major port city on the south-west coast of India by the Arabian Sea and the Laccadive Sea and is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Kerala. It is often called Ernakulam, which refers to the specific district, occupied by the Portuguese in 1503, Kochi was the first of the European colonies in colonial India. It remained the seat of Portuguese India until 1530, when Goa was chosen instead. The city was occupied by the Dutch and the British. Kochi ranks first in the number of international and domestic tourist arrivals in Kerala. Kochi has been ranked the sixth best tourist destination in India according to a survey conducted by the Nielsen Company on behalf of the Outlook Traveller magazine. Kochi is the home to Southern Naval Command of the Indian Navy, Kochi is also home for Keralas National Law School, The National University of Advanced Legal Studies. Ancient travellers and tradesmen referred to Kochi in their writings, variously alluding to it as Cocym, Cochym, Cochin, the Cochin Jewish community called Cochin as Kogin, which is seen in the seal of the synagogue which is still owned by the community. The origin of the name Kochi is thought to be from the Malayalam word kochu azhi, yet another theory is that Kochi is derived from the word Kaci, meaning harbour. The name Cochin implies co-chin, meaning like-China and it looked like China when the Chinese came to the region during the 14th century and installed Chinese nets. Accounts by Italian explorers Nicolo Conti, and Fra Paoline in the 17th century say that it was called Kochchi, after the arrival of the Portuguese, and later the British, the name Cochin stuck as the official appellation. The city reverted to a closer Anglicization of its original Malayalam name, Kochi and this change in name was challenged by the city municipal corporation but court has later dismissed the plea. Kochi was the centre of Indian spice trade for centuries, and was known to the Yavanas as well as Jews, Syrians, Arabs. Kochi rose to significance as a trading centre after the port Muziris around Kodungallur was destroyed by flooding of Periyar in 1341. The earliest documented references to Kochi occur in books written by Chinese voyager Ma Huan during his visit to Kochi in the 15th century as part of Admiral Zheng Hes treasure fleet. There are also references to Kochi in accounts written by Italian traveller Niccolò Da Conti, according to many historians, the precursor state to Kingdom of Kochi came into existence in early 12th century, after the fall of the Chera Kingdom. The reign of the Kingdom was hereditary, and the family ruled over the region was known as the Perumpadappu Swaroopam in the local vernacular. Portuguese navigator, Pedro Álvares Cabral founded the first European settlement in India at Kochi in 1500, from 1503 to 1663, Fort Kochi was ruled by Portugal
7.
Kingdom of Cochin
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Kingdom of Cochin was a late medieval Hindu kingdom and later princely state on the Malabar Coast, South India. Once controlling much of the territory between Ponnani and Thottappally, the Cochin kingdom shrank to its minimal extent as a result of invasions by the Zamorin of Calicut. When Portuguese armadas arrived in India, Cochin was in vassalage to Zamorin and was looking for an opportunity to break away, Cochin became a long-time Portuguese protectorate providing assistance against native overlords. After the Portuguese, the Dutch East India Company followed by the English East India Company, even today, the full official designation of the Raja of Cochin is “Perumpadappu Gangadhara Veera Kerala Thrikkovil Adhikarikal”. The Kingdom of Cochin, originally known as Perumpadappu Swarupam, was under the rule of the Later Cheras in the Middle Ages, after the fall of the Mahodayapuram Cheras in the 12th century, along with numerous other provinces Perumpadappu Swarupam became a free political entity. However, it was only after the arrival of Portuguese colonizers on the Malabar Coast did the Perumpadappu Swarupam acquire any political importance, Perumpadappu rulers had family relationships with the Nambudiri rulers of Edappally. After the transfer of Kochi and Vypin from Edappally rulers to the Perumpadappu rulers, ma Huan, the Muslim voyager and translator who accompanied Admiral Zheng He on three of his seven expeditions to the Western Oceans, describes the king of Cochin as being a Buddhist. There is no extant written evidence about the emergence of the Kingdom of Cochin or of the Cochin Royal Family, all that is recorded are folk tales and stories, and a somewhat blurred historical picture about the origins of the ruling dynasty. The surviving manuscripts, such as Keralolpathi, Keralamahatmyam, and Perumpadapu Grandavari, are collections of myths and legends that are less than reliable as conventional historical sources. There is a legend that the last Perumal who ruled the Chera dynasty divided his kingdom between his nephews and his sons, converted to Islam and traveled to Mecca on a hajj. The Keralolpathi recounts the narrative in the following fashion, The last. He left for Mecca by ship with some Muslims who arrived at Kodungallur port, before leaving for Mecca, he divided his kingdom between his nephews and sons. The Perumpadapu Grandavari contains an account of the dynastic origins. Cheraman Perumal divided the land in half,17 amsa north of Neelaeswaram and 17 amsa south, totaling 34 amsa, thirty-four kingdoms between Kanyakumari and Gokarna were given to the thampuran who was the daughter of the last niece of Cheraman Perumal. Keralolpathi recorded the division of his kingdom in 345 AD, Perumpadapu Grandavari in 385 AD, historians, including Robin Jeffry, Faucett and Samuel Mateer, are of the opinion that as with all other Kings of Malabar, the Cochin Raja was also of Nair origin. Cochin kingdom ruled over a vast area in central Kerala before the Portuguese arrival and their state stretched up to Ponnani and Pukkaitha in the north, Anamalais in the east, and Cochin and Porakkad in the south, with capital at Perumpadappu on the northern border. Later, Calicut conquered large parts of Perumpadappu Kingdom, and made them a tributary state, Cochin was the scene of the first European settlement in India. In the year 1500, the Portuguese Admiral Pedro Álvares Cabral landed at Cochin after being repelled from Calicut, the king of Cochin welcomed the Portuguese and a treaty of friendship was signed
8.
Kathakali
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Kathakali is one of the major forms of classical Indian dance. It is another story play genre of art, but one distinguished by its elaborately colorful make-up, costumes and face masks wearing actor-dancers, Kathakali primarily developed as a Hindu performance art in the Malayalam-speaking southwestern region of India. A Kathakali performance, like all classical dance arts of India, includes music, vocal performers, hand and facial gestures to express ideas, however, Kathakali differs in its style and incorporates movements from the ancient martial arts and athletic traditions of south India. The traditional themes of the Kathakali are folk mythologies, religious legends and spiritual ideas from the Hindu epics, the vocal performance has traditionally been Sanskritised Malayalam. In modern compositions, Indian Kathakali troupes have included artists, as well as adapted Western stories and plays such as those by Shakespeare. The term Kathakali is derived from Katha which means story, or a conversation, or a traditional tale, according to Phillip Zarrilli, elements and aspects of Kathakali can be found in ancient Sanskrit texts such as the Natya Shastra. The Natya Shastra is attributed to sage Bharata, and its first complete compilation is dated to between 200 BCE and 200 CE, but estimates vary between 500 BCE and 500 CE. The most studied version of the Natya Shastra text consists of about 6000 verses structured into 36 chapters, Dance and performance arts, states this ancient Hindu text, are a form of expression of spiritual ideas, virtues and the essence of scriptures. The roots of Kathakali are unclear, jones and Ryan state it is more than 500 years old. According to Phillip Zarrilli, Kathakali emerged as a genre of performance art during the 16th and 17th centuries in a coastal population of south India that spoke Malayalam. The roots of Kathakali, states Mahinder Singh, are more ancient, the Kutiyattam, adds Richmond, is one of the oldest continuously performed theatre forms in India, and it may well be the oldest surviving art form of the ancient world. Kutiyattam, traditionally, was performed in specially designed and attached to Hindu temples, particularly dedicated to the older Shiva tradition. The theatre design matches the dimensions and architecture recommended as ideal in the ancient Natya Shastra, Krishnanattam is the likely immediate precursor of Kathakali, states Zarrilli. Krishnanattam is dance-drama art form about the life and activities of Hindu god Krishna, that developed under the sponsorship of Sri Manavedan Raja, the traditional legend states that Kottarakkara Thampuran requested the services of a Krishnanattam troupe, but his request was denied. The south Indian martial art of Kalarippayattu has influenced Kathakali, Kathakali also expanded the performance repertoire, style and standardized the costume making it easier for the audience to understand the various performances and new plays. Kathakali is structured around plays called Attakatha, written in Sanskritized Malayalam and these plays are written in a particular format that helps identify the action and the dialogue parts of the performance. The Shloka part is the verse, written in third person – often entirely in Sanskrit. The Pada part contains the dialogue part, a Kathakali repertoire is an operatic performance where an ancient story is playfully dramatized
9.
Mohiniyattam
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Mohiniyattam, also spelled Mohiniattam, is one of two classical dances of India that developed and remain popular in the state of Kerala. The other classical dance form from Kerala is Kathakali, Mohiniyattam dance gets its name from the word Mohini – a mythical enchantress avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu, who helps the good prevail over evil by deploying her feminine powers. Mohiniyattams roots, like all classical Indian dances, are in the Natya Shastra – the ancient Hindu Sanskrit text on performance arts, however, it follows the Lasya style described in Natya Shastra, that is a dance which is delicate, eros-filled and feminine. It is traditionally a solo performed by women after extensive training. The repertoire of Mohiniyattam includes music in the Carnatic style, singing and acting a play through the dance, the song is typically in Malayalam-Sanskrit hybrid called Manipravala. The earliest mention of the word is found in the 16th-century legal text Vyavaharamala, the socio-political conflict ultimately led to renewed interest, revival and reconstruction of Mohiniyattam by the people of Kerala, particularly the poet Vallathol Narayana Menon. Mohiniyattam, also referred to as Mohini-attam, is derived from Mohini – a famous female avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu in Indian mythology, Mohini refers to a divine enchantress, supreme seductress. She appears in Hindu mythologies during a battle between Devas and Asuras, after the evil had won control of Amrita. Appearing in her youthful bloom, dressed rapturously she uses her charms to seduce the Asuras, Mohini after gaining the Amrita gives it to the good instead, depriving the evil from gaining immortality. The details of the Mohini story varies by the Purana and region, aattam is a Malayalam language word, and means rhythmic motion or dance. Mohiniyattam thus connotes a dance of an enchantress, a beautiful woman, Mohiniyattam is a classical Indian dance, which by definition traces its repertoire to the foundational text Natya Shastra. The Natya Shastra text is attributed to the ancient scholar Bharata Muni and its first complete compilation is dated to between 200 BCE and 200 CE, but estimates vary between 500 BCE and 500 CE. The text describes the elements and the structure of two types of dance, the vigorous, high energy Tāṇḍava dance and the gentle, calmingly graceful Lāsyā dance. Mohiniyāttam follows the structure and aims of the Lāsyā dance in Natya Shastra, according to Reginald Massey, Mohiniyattams history is unclear. Kerala, the region where this dance genre developed and is popular, has a tradition of lasya style dances whose basics. The earliest evidence of Mohiniyattam, or a Mohiniyattam-like dance tradition is found in sculpture of Kerala. The 11th century Vishnu temple at Trikodithanam, and the Kidangur Subramanya temple, have several sculptures of dancers in Mohiniyattam pose. The textual evidence from 12th century onwards suggest that Malayalam poets and playwrights included Lāsyā themes, the 16th century Vyavaharamala by Nambootiri contains the first known mention of the term Mohiniyattam, in the context of a payment to be made to a Mohiniyattam dancer
10.
Chenda
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The Chenda is a cylindrical percussion instrument used widely in the state of Kerala, Tulu Nadu of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in India. In Tulu Nadu it is known as chande, a Chenda is a cylindrical wooden drum, and has a length of two feet and a diameter of one foot. Both ends are covered with the Chenda Vattam, the animal skin is usually of a cow, in a traditional Chenda other skins are not used, to have a quality sound the skin from the abdominal part of the cow is taken. The Chenda is suspended from the neck so that it hangs vertically. Though both sides can be used for playing, only one is actually beaten, using two sticks, the drummer strikes the upper parchment. This instrument is famous for its loud and rigid sound, a Chenda has two sides, the left side called Edamthala and the right side Valamthala. The Edamthala is made of only one/two layer of cow skin, the skin are dried under shadow and fastened on wooden rings made of the trunk of a locally available palm tree or bamboo, using a gum prepared from the seed of a tree called pananchi maram. The circular frame is kept in a vessel, boiled for a day and then bent in the form of circle. The body of the Chenda which is 1 ft in diameter and 1.5 inches thickness is made of the wood of the jackfruit tree. The thickness is reduced by 0.25 inches, at simultaneous points separated by 4 inches. This is done in order to produce highly resonating sound, only the wooden rings with the skin is replaced once the quality of the sound is not up to the mark. For regular Chenda artists an average of 15 rings are required every year, the Chenda is mainly played in Hindu temple festivals and as an accompaniment in the religious art forms of Kerala. The chenda is used as an accompaniment for Kathakali, Koodiyattam, Kannyar Kali, Theyyam and among many forms of dances and it is also played in a dance-drama called Yakshagana which is popular in Tulu Nadu of Karnataka. There is a variant of this instrument used in school of Yakshagana called Chande. It is traditionally considered to be an Asura Vadyam which means it cannot go in harmony, Chenda is an unavoidable musical instrument in all form of cultural activities in Kerala. In Kerala the craft of making Chenda is now associated with some few Perumkollan families at Peruvembu, Nemmara, Lakkidi, Vellarkad, many famous Chenda percussionists in Kerala make their Chendas from Vellarkad village for it is famous for the quality of the instrument. These Chendas are used for different purposes especially for different art forms, depending upon the size, structure and function of the Chenda, they are classified as, Veekku Chenda or Acchan Chenda, Uruttu Chenda, Muri Chenda etc. Uruttu Chenda is used to play variations in music and it is used to lead the orchestra
India
Thrippunithura
