The Music and Musical Instruments of Southern India and the Deccan c11.241

c11.241

METAL cymbals of all kinds are used as accompaniments to native music. Farther North we find them chiefly in connection with music of a religious character, but in the South their use is universal. The larger kinds, called Jhanj, are much like the ordinary Turkish cymbals and are used in the Nahabet, and in company with the Tâla, or gong, in the wild temple music. The chief use made of all cymbals is to mark the time. The two small kinds of cymbals here drawn are peculiar to Indian music. The Jâlra—shown uppermost in the plate—are made in proportion a good deal thicker than the larger cymbals, and they are played so as to produce a ringing sound, somewhat like that of a trembling electric bell; they are usually connected by a cord passed through their centres. The cup-shaped cymbals to the left of the plate are called Tâla, and are so made that their edges only are struck.