The Music and Musical Instruments of Southern India and the Deccan c11.32

c11.32

The use of the gong and bell are universal, and need no particular description. The gong—called sometimes Tâla, but more generally Ghari—is found in almost all Hindu temples, and is used both in the daily ritual and also to note the hours of the day. It is usually about a foot in diameter and 1/3-inch in thickness; it is made of bell metal, and sounded by a wooden mallet. Indeed, the tone more nearly resembles that of a bell, and has certainly nothing in common with the Chinese gong. In Southern India a light instrument of this kind called Jâgatay or Semakalam is found, which is sounded by a curved bone striker. The small bell—called Ghante—is used in every Hindu temple, and is familiar to everyone. Bells of any size are not known in India, but the antiquity of the bell in India has been proved beyond doubt; specimens of curious old bells have been discovered in cromlechs and cairns in different parts of India.⁶ And among the Todas, the aborigines of the Niliri Hills, the bell is still an object of especial veneration.⁷