Miḻāvu

Author(s)

Karin Bindu

Abstract

The ritual context of the Kerala's Sanskrit genre of drama, Kutiyattam, demands the exclusive use of percussionists of sacral and secular milavu drums in kutiyattam, nannyar-And cakyar kiittu performances as well as orchestral temple music. The classification of the anthropomorphic "divine" instrument milavu goes back to the book "Natya Sastra" of Bharatamuni around 2,000 years ago. Eight private and governmental training centers in Kerala, e.g., the "Kerala Kalamandalam," offer methodic mixed forms between traditional Guru-Shishya and contemporary training methods for the literally nearly unmen-Tioned copper drum milavu. Sociocultural criteria, such as affiliation to training centers, age differences, training's level, gender, and a variety of tasks related to the context of performance practice form a complex network of close relationships, difficulties, and responsibilities between traditional milavu percussionists of Nampyar caste, students from other castes, gurus, and kutiyattam actors of both sexes.

Organisation(s)

Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology

Journal

Anthropos

Volume

111

Pages

395-414

No. of pages

20

ISSN

0257-9774

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5771/0257-9774-2016-2-395

Publication date

2016

Peer reviewed

Yes

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

504009 Ethnology

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Anthropology, Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)

Portal url

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/4b669fd0-572e-4c01-8cbb-6893a2bca00d