History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c37.s1.t5: Parchment

History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c37.s1.t5

Language: English

Parchment

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Parchment, dry skin free from hair and flesh, has many uses from time immortal. It was used in very ancient time as string, though strap, tent, boat, container, shield and drum to produce sound came later and found uses in the various percussion instruments, as sheet for writing and in shadow show as puppets of living personalities (mythological and historical) and other (building, forest, chariot, lotus, arrow, club etc.). It has other present use as lamp shade, lamp dome, dividing panels etc.

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It cannot be denied the use of parchments scrolls in India in writing since it was in use in the other ancient countries as early as 2000 B.C. Indeed the earliest known documents on parchment include an Egyptian scroll 2000 B.C. Recently discovered Dead Sea scrolls which included a 23 feet long leather scroll with the complete text of the book of Isaiah dated 100 B.C

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(a)

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(b)

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Fig.4. Ancient leathercraft for boat and container a) Leather Board b) Bottles moulded from camel hide made by natives of Bannu, N.W. Frontier Province of India The Vedas as well as the epics Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata refer to various kinds of drums. The Saṃhitās and the Brāhmaṇas refer to the Bhumi Duṇḍubi (the big earthern drum). The Deva Duṇḍubi (celestial drum) is mentioned in the Rāmāyaṇa. Of the large military drum played with a stick, there were the Ranadhaka and the Jaradhaka with which the heroes of Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata are said to have inspired their legions with military ardour in the battle fields. The Pañcamukha vadyam itself is a royal sacred drum and is played in the Thyagaraja Sannidhi in the temple at Tiruvarur.

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For thousands of years, news was sent by code sounds through parchment instrument for hundreds of miles by the peoples of different civilizations. Various announcements from palaces and worshipping places were also carried through these instruments which are finding a place even today in music concert, orchestra and visual presentations like drama, dance, film and television. The parchment has been expressing from time immemorial man’s joys and sorrows, love and valour, fright and ferociousness, his watery natural calamities spiritual aspirations, patriotic feeling, psychic and physical needs in a tone understandable by people speaking various languages.

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The drums are single and multifaceted. The ‘Udukkai’ has single skinned face. But the right hand at the Mṛdaṅgam has three concentric rings of skin. In the Pañcamukha Vādyam in Tiruvarur, the faces have a circular ring of various types. The four hands along the periphery of the instrument have single skinned faces. The Mrdangam has to be periodically reskinned and the black paste renewed.

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There is a rare instrument known ar Pañcamugam with five faces with deer and other skins fitted to a bronze egg shaped vessel. This type of instrument was known 2300 years ago. In the Pañcamuga Vādyam, the five heads are tuned to five different notes and with the two kuḍa muzha (pot drums) one on either side, the compass of the instrument will complete the sapta svaras.

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The shape of the instrument differs. These were barrel shaped (Mṛdaṅgam) hour glass shaped (Udukkai), cylindrical shaped (Pambai), conical (Damaram), pot shaped (Kuda muzha) etc. Drums are classified as martial drums, ceremonial drums, and message drums. The body of the Mṛdaṅgam is scooped out of single block of wood. Jack wood, red wood or the wood of the Margosa tree is used for making the body. The core of the coconut tree and palm tree are also used for the purpose. On the right of the Mṛdaṅgam, the inner most layer and the next ring are of cow skin and the outer most is of goat skin. First the three skins are stitched over the right head in a tight manner. The outer skin is sliced off the middle to make the inner ring and the inner most layer visible. The skin is stretched over the shell. Then the skin is dried in the sun. The skin of left head with the layers using cow and goat skins are also prepared in the same manner. After drying, both the heads are fixed tightly to the shell by putting circular rings of twisted leather straps on both the drum heads.

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The commonly accepted main classes of instruments are the strings, the wind and the percussion. These instruments were classified in the ancient Tamil Literature as Tholkaruvi (skin instrument eg. Mirudaṅgam), Narambukaruvi (animal gut instrument, eg. Yazh Nāraṅgi), Thulaikaruvi (hole or wind instrument eg. Flute) and *Kañcakaruvi* (metal instrument eg. cymbals). The music is produced by striking, plucking, bowing, rubbing, and shaking. *Tholkaruvi* (Percussion instrument) has an earlier origin. Parchment musical instruments are found in all countries and are used by people belonging to all strata of society from prince to peasant. These instruments contribute rhythm and dynamism to whatever type of music they accompany. Rhythm comes naturally to man, since everything in creation moves towards it. Numerous varieties of drums, veenās, pipes, gongs and bells are shown in the ancient sculptures. The ancient ‘Sāma Veda’ among the four Vedas is devoted to the divine vocal music which was rendered accompanied by suitable musical instrument. The parchment finds use not only in percussion instrument but also in certain type of string instruments. The gut, hair and horn of the animal origin are also used in stringed and wind instruments (Fig. 5).

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Fig.5. Ancient leathercraft using parchment a) Śiva's Dammar b) Shadow Puppet c) Percussion Musical Instruments.

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