Abstract

Mridangam, the jack wood; cylindrical-shaped, double-headed, membraneous South Indian drum has been the primary percussion instrument for Bharatanatyam dance programs besides Carnatic music concerts for a very long time. In this paper, the role of the Mridangist, which is to keep the rhythm in place through accompaniment, has been briefly explained for “items” like Pushpanjali, Sabdam, Padavarnam, Padam, Ragamalika, and Tillana etc., in general however in the case of Alarippu and Jatiswaram, how the mridangist shows his Manodharmam (order of the mind), within the boundaries, has been analyzed and explained for study. In the case of Alarippu, the mridangist plays a combination of chatusra (quartet) in Madhyama (Medium) speed while maintaining the same gathi (gait) of the talam (time measure) and in the other case of Jatiswaram, where the mridangist plays Misra (septuplets) gathi (gait) while keeping the basic chatusra gathi (quartet).