--- url: 'https://kalasudha.com/en-gb/instrument/mridangam' title: Mridangam author: name: drupler url: 'https://kalasudha.com/en-gb/user/1' date: '2026-02-06T15:43:09+00:00' updated: '2026-10-25T01:53:01+00:00' type: product summary: 'The mridangam is the double-headed jackfruit-wood barrel drum of Carnatic music. Its treble and bass heads give the full range of strokes, from the open tha to…' tags: - Membranophones - Mridangam image: 'https://cloudfront.kalasudha.com/kalasudha-web-prod/s3fs-public/styles/d12_standard/public/2026-02/Mridangam-South-Indian-Percussion-Instrument.jpg?h=d1cb525d&itok=aNUqnYFB' published: true og: site_name: KalaSudha 'image:url': 'https://cloudfront.kalasudha.com/kalasudha-web-prod/s3fs-public/styles/d12_standard/public/2026-02/Mridangam-South-Indian-Percussion-Instrument.jpg?h=d1cb525d&itok=aNUqnYFB' 'image:secure_url': 'https://cloudfront.kalasudha.com/kalasudha-web-prod/s3fs-public/styles/d12_standard/public/2026-02/Mridangam-South-Indian-Percussion-Instrument.jpg?h=d1cb525d&itok=aNUqnYFB' 'image:type': image/jpeg 'image:width': '1200' 'image:height': '675' 'image:alt': Mridangam-Instrument --- [ Instruments ](/en-gb/instruments) Mridangam 1. [ Home ](/en-gb) 2. 3. [ Instruments ](/en-gb/instruments) 4. 5. Mridangam Membranophones Membranophone / double-headed barrel drum Advanced South India (ancient; central to Carnatic music since the medieval period) Carnatic classical Rhythmic backbone # Mridangam (मृदंगम) The mridangam is the double-headed jackfruit-wood barrel drum of Carnatic music. Its treble and bass heads give the full range of strokes, from the open tha to the bass thom. Price Range £250 - £2,500 Student mridangams with machine-fitted heads start around £250. Mid-range instruments with hand-applied syahi and quality jackfruit shells range from £500 to £900. Concert-grade instruments selected by professional musicians from established Thanjavur or Chennai makers, with precisely calibrated syahi and high-quality lacing, can reach £1,500 to £2,500. [ Request Quote ](/en-gb/form/custom-instrument-quote?instrument_id=168) ## Explore the discipline Meet the musical tradition, its practitioners and ways to learn. - [ Mridangam · Carnatic Classical ](/en-gb/instrumental/carnatic-classical/mridangam) ## History & Origins ### What is a mridangam? The **mridangam** is the double-headed barrel drum of Carnatic classical music, and ours suits the student and the professional accompanist; no Carnatic ensemble plays without one. Across the lap, the right hand plays the treble **valanthalai** and the left the bass **thoppi**, so one drum covers the registers the [tabla](/instrument/tabla) splits between two. ### What makes a great mridangam The shell is one block of seasoned jackfruit wood, which holds its shape through South India's heat and damp. The treble head's permanent black load, the **soru** or syahi, sets the pitch: a fine one sings, an uneven one sounds muddy, so tap the head across its stroke zones before you buy. Before each concert the player presses fresh semolina paste, **kanji**, onto the bass head for its deep thom. ### How it is played On the treble, tha is open, with index and middle fingers; ki is muted near the edge; din rings at the edge by the load; nam strikes both heads. The bass gives thom and the sliding gumki. These syllables feed solkattu, korvais and konnakol. The mridangam follows the singer through neraval and kalpanaswaram, answering phrase by phrase, and fills held notes and pauses with light rhythm that keeps the pulse without crowding the melody. Then it opens the **tani avartanam**, the percussion solo. Palghat Mani Iyer made it the singer's active partner, and Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman shaped his strokes to the melody's phrasing. The Natyashastra (c. 200 BCE–200 CE) names the mrdanga among its principal drums, and temple sculpture at Chidambaram, Thanjavur's Brihadeeswara and Belur shows early barrel drums. Under the 17th- and 18th-century Thanjavur Maratha court it became principal accompanist to the kritis of Tyagaraja (1767–1847), Muthuswami Dikshitar (1775–1835) and Syama Sastri (1762–1827), the core repertoire. Thanjavur and Mysore court musicians developed its syllables and tani avartanam through the 19th century. The Thanjavur style, oldest and most widely played, values clear strokes, tonal separation and fidelity to the composition; Pudukkottai, through Dakshinamurthy Pillai, heavier bass and cross-rhythm. Palani Subramania Pillai (1908–1962) gave the Palani style its vigorous right hand and its tani avartanam, which have shaped leading players for 60 years. Palghat Mani Iyer (1912–1981), the 20th century's most influential player, set the standard for close accompaniment and recorded with M. S. Subbulakshmi and G. N. Balasubramaniam. Palani-style player Karaikudi R. Mani defined high-energy tani avartanam and founded Sruthi Laya. A systematic approach to its structure made him the late 20th century's most influential teacher, training hundreds of today's players in India and abroad. Their recordings remain core study material; most players trace their line to one style while drawing on others. ## Construction & Craftsmanship ### Construction Process The shell is a single block of **jackfruit wood** (Artocarpus heterophyllus), seasoned for at least a year to resist warping. Makers around Thanjavur and Chennai rough-cut it on a lathe, then hollow and sand smooth a bore that widens at the centre and tapers to each end, judging it by tapping and listening. Many are Dalit Christian craftsmen. The right head, the **valanthalai**, is a goatskin ringed with hide that carries the black load: iron-bearing powder bound with cooked rice, laid in many thin layers over a rice-paste base and struck between layers, up to fifty of them. A disc of 4 to 6 cm, centred true, sets the pitch, usually C4 to F4 for concert players. Once the load sets hard, makers tune the head by tightening the lacing until its edge rings at pitch. In 1920 C. V. Raman and Sivakali Kumar showed the load gives the head five near-harmonic tones. The left head, the **thoppi**, frames goatskin with heavy buffalo or cow hide and has no permanent patch. Water-buffalo hide or nylon straps run between the hoops over wooden kinnaram, with gatta for tuning, and the player adds fresh kanji to the thoppi before each concert. ### Maintenance & Care - **Tuning the right head:** Tap the gatta or straps with a smooth stone: towards the shell raises pitch, the other way lowers it. Uneven tension is the commonest fault, so work round the head until it sounds one pitch all round, checked against a sruti box or tambura; the straps link both heads, so recheck the other. Allow ten to twenty minutes. Match the edge note to the chapu stroke, and ask us before scraping or adding to the load. - **Kanji:** Cook fine semolina with water to a thick paste, cool it and press a disc onto the thoppi: wider or thicker lowers pitch, smaller raises it, and too much stops the gumki. Remove it all after the concert, as dried paste harms the skin. - **Humidity:** Damp slackens the heads and dry air splits them. Store the drum in a padded bag away from vents, sun and temperature swings. - **Lacing and load:** Replace frayed lacing; rough gatta scratch it and speed its wear, so smooth them with fine sandpaper or replace them. Professionals re-lace yearly. ### Quick Facts Category Membranophones Family Membranophone / double-headed barrel drum Difficulty Advanced Origin South India (ancient; central to Carnatic music since the medieval period) Classification Membranophone: double-headed barrel drum Shell material Jackfruit wood (Artocarpus heterophyllus) Drum faces Valanthalai (right treble, permanent black load or syahi) and thoppi (left bass, fresh kanji paste each performance) Key figures Palghat Mani Iyer, Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman, Karaikudi R. Mani Primary role Principal percussion in Carnatic vocal, instrumental and dance performance Origin South India; a drum named mrdanga appears in the Natyashastra (c. 200 BCE–200 CE), and barrel drums in South Indian temple sculpture ### Price Range £250 - £2,500 Student mridangams with machine-fitted heads start around £250. Mid-range instruments with hand-applied syahi and quality jackfruit shells range from £500 to £900. Concert-grade instruments selected by professional musicians from established Thanjavur or Chennai makers, with precisely calibrated syahi and high-quality lacing, can reach £1,500 to £2,500. [ Request Quote ](/en-gb/form/custom-instrument-quote?instrument_id=168) ## Technical Specifications Detailed specifications for the Mridangam Physical dimensions Shell and frame Membrane system Tuning and setup Acoustic characteristics Physical dimensions Physical dimensions specifications | Specification | Value | |---|---| | Shell length | 55–65cm | | Maximum diameter (centre) | 28–35cm | | Valanthalai head diameter | 15–18cm | | Thoppi head diameter | 22–28cm | | Weight | 5–8kg | Shell and frame Shell and frame specifications | Specification | Value | |---|---| | Shell wood | Jackfruit wood (Artocarpus heterophyllus) | | Shell shape | Barrel (wider at centre, tapering to both ends) | | Shell construction | Lathe-shaped from single block; interior bore calibrated during hollowing | | Makers | Primarily Thanjavur and Chennai, Tamil Nadu; also Andhra Pradesh, Bengaluru and Kerala | | Lacing | Leather (water-buffalo hide) or nylon straps with cylindrical wooden gatta at each end | Membrane system Membrane system specifications | Specification | Value | |---|---| | Right head (valanthalai) | Goatskin ringed with hide, carrying a permanent black load of iron-bearing powder and cooked rice | | Syahi diameter | 4–6cm; applied in many thin layers over several days | | Left head (thoppi) | Buffalo or heavier goatskin; no permanent patch | | Thoppi application | Fresh kanji (cooked semolina paste) before each performance, topped up mid-concert and removed after | | Bridge pieces | Wooden kinnaram over which lacing runs between heads | Tuning and setup Tuning and setup specifications | Specification | Value | |---|---| | Tuning tool | Smooth stone hammer (tuning stone) | | Tuning mechanism | Gatta pieces: up = higher tension and pitch, down = lower | | Valanthalai pitch range | C4 to F4 (concert pitch, varies by instrument size) | | Thoppi pitch setting | Set by kanji disc diameter and thickness; matched to concert tonal centre | | Setup time | 10–20 minutes for full tuning before performance | Acoustic characteristics Acoustic characteristics specifications | Specification | Value | |---|---| | Treble register | Metallic, singing; syahi produces clear fundamental with controlled overtones | | Bass register | Deep, resonant thom; kanji creates broad, sustained low-frequency response | | Stroke count | 5–8 distinct tonal syllables (tha, ki, thom, nam, din, gumki, and combinations) | | Dynamic range | Soft to loud; fine gradations controlled by finger pressure and angle | | Tonal role | Treble tracks melodic rhythm; bass provides foundation and pitch anchor | ## Available Instruments Browse our curated selection of Mridangams Showing 1 instruments ### Mridangam £250.00 [ Request Quote ](/en-gb/form/custom-instrument-quote?instrument_id=168&product_id=37) [Get Details](/en-gb/product/37) ### Looking for Something Unique? Contact us for custom-made instruments tailored to your specific requirements [ Contact for Custom Order ](/en-gb/form/custom-instrument-quote?instrument_id=168) ## Your Journey to Mridangam Mastery Follow this structured path from absolute beginner to accomplished performer 1 ### Hand position and basic strokes Set your hand positions for the two heads, the treble valanthalai on the right and the bass thoppi on the left. Learn the foundational strokes tha, ki, thom and nam with fingers and palm, speaking each syllable as you play. Work for even tone and a clear separation between open and muted strokes. 20% 2 ### Syllable system and solkattu Study the full syllable set, solkattu, and vocalise each pattern before you play it. Students learn rhythm through these spoken syllables tied to hand positions, without notation: speaking trains the mind to hear a structure before the hands play it, the centre of Carnatic percussion teaching. 40% 3 ### Tala cycles Practise keeping tala cycles at a steady tempo across the main Carnatic talas: Adi (8 beats), Rupaka (counted as 3 beats, or as 6 aksharas, the counting units of a tala), Misra Chapu (7 beats) and Khanda Chapu (5 beats). Develop the ability to subdivide and recombine beats without losing the tala. 60% 4 ### Accompaniment skills Learn to accompany a vocalist or melodic instrumentalist. Follow the phrase structure, keep the tala steady and set your volume so the lead stays in front. Practise with singers and players until you can answer improvised passages phrase by phrase without losing the cycle. 80% 5 ### Advanced patterns and improvisation Study the tani avartanam, the percussion solo, which the mridangam opens before the others take turns and all converge on a cadential ending. Learn korvai, mordhana (cadential patterns) and cross-rhythmic layakari, speaking each passage in sollu, then build your own korvais and a tani with a clear dramatic arc. 100% ## Frequently Asked Questions What is the mridangam, the drum of Carnatic music? The **[mridangam](/instrument/mridangam)** is a double-headed barrel drum and the principal percussion instrument of Carnatic music in South India. It accompanies vocal and instrumental music and South Indian classical dance. The wooden shell bulges at the middle. The player sits with the drum horizontal across the lap and strikes both heads with the hands and fingers. What is the black patch on the right head of a mridangam made of? The black spot on a **[mridangam](/instrument/mridangam)** is a permanent load on the right, treble head, called soru, saadham or karanai in Tamil usage. Makers bind an iron-bearing mineral powder with cooked rice or rice flour and build it up in many thin layers; Wesleyan records up to 50. The load gives the head a definite pitch and a metallic timbre. What is the paste put on the bass head of a mridangam before playing? Before playing, a **[mridangam](/instrument/mridangam)** player presses a temporary paste onto the centre of the left, bass head. Most sources name semolina (rava) or farina mixed with water; one acoustics paper names a wheat paste. The paste lowers the pitch and damps the head, and players top it up during a performance. Some use silicone caulk, modelling clay or rubber gum instead. How is a mridangam tuned to the performer's pitch? A **[mridangam](/instrument/mridangam)** is tuned by striking the leather straps at the head with a smooth stone, often through a wooden peg placed between the straps. Striking towards the shell raises the pitch; striking from below lowers it. The treble head must sound one pitch all round its edge, checked against a sruti box, pitch pipe or tambura. Because the straps link both heads, one adjustment can shift the other. Why does the mridangam have a definite pitch, unlike most drums? The **[mridangam](/instrument/mridangam)** sounds musical because of the black load on its right head, which gives that head a definite pitch and a metallic timbre. In 1920 C. V. Raman and Kumar showed that the loaded head yields five near-harmonic tones, including the fundamental. Raman and his co-workers later traced those tones to nine normal modes of the loaded membrane. What are the basic strokes on the mridangam, and how are they learned? Students of the **[mridangam](/instrument/mridangam)** learn rhythm through spoken syllables (sollu) tied to hand positions, without reading notation. Wesleyan counts at least 12 right-hand strokes and three main left-hand strokes: a flat-hand slap, an open bass stroke, and the gumki, in which a wrist slide stretches the skin and raises the pitch. A research dataset distinguishes 10 strokes, including tha, thi, thom and num. How does the mridangam differ from the tabla? The **[mridangam](/instrument/mridangam)** is one double-headed barrel drum, played across the lap with both heads struck by the hands. It is the principal percussion of Carnatic music in South India. A widely held tradition says the tabla of Hindustani music came from a mridangam split in two, but this story is unverified. Its closest Hindustani relative is the larger pakhawaj. Is the mridangam of Carnatic music related to the pakhawaj of Hindustani music? Yes, the **pakhawaj** of Hindustani music is a close relative of the [mridangam](/instrument/mridangam). Darbar calls the mridangam its prototype and describes the pakhawaj as larger, with a different playing technique. The maddale of Yakshagana and the khol of Bengal are related double-headed drums, though the maddale differs in structure and acoustics from the Carnatic mridangam. What sizes does a mridangam come in, and how does size relate to pitch? Wesleyan's collection records two **[mridangam](/instrument/mridangam)** sizes. The lower-pitched taggu shell is about 61 cm long, with openings of about 17 and 20 cm; the higher-pitched hecchu shell is about 56 cm long, with openings of about 16.5 and 19 cm. A concert mridangam is tuned to the performer's tonic, and one research dataset records instruments at six tonics from B to E. What are the main schools or styles of mridangam playing? Sources name two principal schools of **[mridangam](/instrument/mridangam)** playing: Thanjavur and Pudukkottai. The Thanjavur style grew under the Maratha kings of Thanjavur and values restraint and close attention to sruti over display. The Pudukkottai school traces to Manpoondia Pillai, a thavil player, and is known for technique and complex rhythmic patterning shaped by thavil practice. Have more questions? Contact our support team and we'll be happy to help! Ready to start learning Mridangam? Get personalized quotes and explore courses [Request Quote](/en-gb/form/custom-instrument-quote?instrument_id=168) Stay close ## Keep KalaSudha close. Receive news of concerts, learning opportunities, recordings and the work taking shape at KalaSudha. - Concert news - ·Learning opportunities - ·Recordings and stories We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe at any time.