Leather Beats of Peruvemba

Palakkad’s Peruvemba village has been resonating with music of its own for more than 200 years now,often unheard and unsung! Peruvemba is renowned for its leather-based musical instruments.

Step into the land of Peruvemba, a small village where you can see artisans engaged in the making of musical instruments like Maddalam, Idakka, Mridangam, Chenda, Tabla, Timila, Idakka  and others. The members from the Kadayan and Kollan community, who live and work in Peruvemba are preserving this ancient craft which is their livelihood as well. 

A single instrument has to go through multiple stages of production 

 A typical craftsman's day begins early in the morning in their workplace. They invoke goddess Saraswathy, the Hindu deity of wisdom, music and art before starting work. They work and and live here till its long past dusk.

This village is sought after by the maestros of Carnatic music who come down to this tiny village all the way from Thanjavur, Chennai and many parts of the world to get their instruments made and fine-tuned. Renowned musicians from different parts of the country visit Peruvemba to procure their prized instruments.

The beats of the instruments are set to the pounds of the lives of the craftsmen here. As you reach the village, endless classical notes ring out from tiny sheds adjacent to small houses. 

Cutting Skin is a tough task

The base drum is made using jack fruit wood or Kanikonna. The skin of buffaloes and cows are bought from the abattoirs. We also paid a visit to a place which resembled a tannery. Here the skin of cattle are washed, stretched and pegged to small poles on the ground to be dried in sunlight for weeks and to be scrubbed and smoothened later. The skin, purchased from a nearby town, needs to be dried for more than 48 hours. Cow skin is used in chenda, goat skin in mridangam and the thin skin of the cow’s intestine for the face of the edakka.

Whatever the tales of hardships be, whatever may be the impact of this strenuous work on their health, the artisans from the land are never ready to let go of the tradition. 

They are an integral part of Kerala’s musical tradition and culture.

Pictures Taken For Aksh Weaves and Crafts

Images are copyrighted. 

Infomation from Google