AN ETHNOMUSICOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ON KANIYAN KOOTHU Aaron J. Paige This paper will analyze some of the strategies by which Kaniyans, a minority com- munity from the Southern districts of Tamil Nadu, use music as a vehicle to negoti- ate, reconcile, and understand social, cultural, and economic change. Kaniyan Koothu performances are generally commissioned for kodai festivals, during which Kaniyans sing lengthy ballads. These stories vary locally from village to village and recount the adventures, exploits, and virtues of gods and goddesses specific to the area and community in which they are worshipped. While these narratives are en- tertaining in their own right, they also serve as springboards for subjective compari- son and interpretation. Kaniyans thus, transform mythological legends into modern social commentary. In a world perceived to be growing increasingly complicated by globalization and modernization, these folk musicians openly voice in performance both their concern for the loss of traditional values and their trepidation that Tamil culture, tamizh panpaadu – particularly village culture, gramiya panpaadu – are gradually being displaced by foreign principles, products, and technologies. In con- tradistinction to this conservative rhetoric, the Kaniyans, in recent years, have made major reformations to their own musical practice. Using specific textual examples, the first part of this paper will look at the ways in which musicians’ semi-improvised narratives foster solidarity under the rubric of a shared Tamil language and cultural identity. The second part of this paper, by way of musical examples, will attempt to illuminate how these same musicians are engaged in redefining and reformulating their musical tradition through the appropriation and integration of rhythmic models characteristic of Carnatic drumming. Analyzing the ways in which Kaniyan Koothu artists borrow from these rhythmic models will help to reveal that the categories of folk and classical are not mutually exclusive, but are in fact interrelated and overlap- ping. CONTRIBUTION OF ISLAM IN TAMIL CULTURE Ajmal Khan, P.M. The term culture is a global term which includes all the things like materials, habits, ideas and their formulations, attitudes and other similar concepts which are trans- mitted from one generation to another. When there is a collision of two different cultures, one culture absorbs some qualities of the other culture and makes the other culture its own and it also nurtures a culture which is alien to that place. The changes which take place between two religions and cultures by virtue of their collision is called absorption or assimilation. Here, we discuss only those concepts like contributions made by Islam to Indian culture in general and Tamil culture in particular. Islamic culture in Tamil is an area fit to be researched. The progress and popularity of Islam and its contribution to Tamil literary works are well known. There are more than two thousand Tamil literary works contributed by various Muslim poets. The Muslim people who got settled in Tamilnadu not only practiced their religion and culture, but also preached the same to others as well. These preachings very much $ P "8 % 710 attracted the neighbours who lived there. For example, The Muslims living in Kayal- pattinam were experts in Siddha Medicine. The Tamil population was immensely attracted by some of the ideologies of Islam such as there is only one God, equality, brotherhood, all are alike to God, there is no necessity of a priest or middleman between God and human beings and one can express his grievances straight to God. The religious set up and logical concepts of Islam drew the South Indians like magnet and especially Tamilians. CILAPPATIKᾹRAM: PROBLEMS OF RESEARCH Alexander M. Dubyanskiy Cilappatikāram is without doubt one of the most outstanding pieces of Tamil litera- ture. Its importance lies not only in its high poetical qualities but also in some of its features, which give it a unique place in Tamil literary history. The most important among them are: 1. Cilappatikāram is the first epic poem in Tamil which can be de- fined as narrative. It is based on a story and a local story at that. 2. Cilappatikāram is the first Tamil poem in which the author tried to combine on a full scale Tamil and Indo-Aryan poetical traditions. Cilappatikāram is a very complex piece of literature and presents many problems for scholars of different special disciplines (history, religious science, literary science, poetics and so on). I would concentrate on two important problems, or, rather, a set of problems, which have not been exhaus- tively investigated so far, though, there is no doubt, Cilappatikāram has always at- tracted the attention of scholars. THE CLASSICALNESS OF TAMIL MUSIC - A SCIENTIFIC STUDY Amutha Pandian The Classical music typical of South India is called Carnatic music by Pooloka Mallan (1116-1127) a Marathi king to denote the music that was practiced south of his na- tion. The word ‘carnatic’ is now used for anything that is old and traditional and ‘Carnatic music’ for South Indian music practiced from Mysore to Tiruvanandapuram. This South Indian music is Dravidian Music. Any classical art is formalized and organized. It fits into a grammatical framework and is governed by scientific rules. From the nineteenth century till today musicolo- gists base their researches on Sanskrit works like Bharatha Sastra of the second cen- tury A.D. and Sangeetha Rathnagaram of the fifth century and they are confounded by the difference between the theories of Carnatic music and the music practiced by veteran musicians. Indian and western musicologists like C.R. Day, Fox Strangways, and E. Clements base their research on these Sanskrit works and have failed in their endeavors to form a tangible scientific theory. Neither do the musicologists define the theories in clear terms nor do they agree with each other on a scientific theory. Abraham Pandithar who was appalled by this, made researches of the Tamil works and found out that the details in Silappathikaaram cognate with the oral tradition of the Oduvaars of Thevaram and the music of the Nagaswaram artists. The facts that 1. the details found in the Sanskrit works are not scientific 2. that they in no way explain the ancient music preserved in the Oduvar oral tradition 3. and that the mu- sic that is spoken of in Tolkaupiam, Paripadal and Silappathikaram are highly sys- 711 Y) # _ 3 tematized and that the classical music that is practiced today are undeniable proof to conclude that the present Carnatic music is the ancient music practiced by the Tamis. This paper takes up the following controversial theories and explains them scientifically with the details in Silappathikaram and disproves the theories in the Sanskrit works. Though Sarangadevar (author of Sangeetha Rathnakaaram) says that alaguu-s (sruthis) must have equal intervals, and that the number of sruthis is 22, how could 12 semitones be divided into 22 in equal proportion with the ratio of one fourth or one eighth? The zodiac sign (by which the Tamils formed their Vattappaalai) with 12 houses will not be complete with the 22-alaguu-s of Sarangadevar. Kural Thiribu (Modal shift of tonic) by which the three gramma-s (gamut) are made is impossible in Sarangadever’s system. Sarangadevar mentions here and there of Dhaivatha Graamam, Madhyama Graamam and GAndhara Graamam but he says that Madhyama Graamam was not popular in his days and that Gandhara Graamam went away to the celestial region. This is perhaps because singing Kural Tiribu was not properly understood. However from ‘Aacchiyar Kuravai’ in Silappathikaaram, the way the Tamils sang Kural Thiribu could be elucidated. ‘Aacchiyar Kuravai’ shows the great felicity with which the Tamils made kural Thiribu. It was possible only because their music was scientific. Further Silappathikaaram says the musician must posses a keen ear for the different concordant and discordant relationships of inai killlai pagai and nattpu. They deter- mined alaguu-s (notes) by listening to the concordance between Sa and Pa. With 22 alaguu-s these relationships cannot be established in the Vatappalai as used by the Tamils. Silappathikaaram mentions two ways or traditions of singing. The names Thondru- padu marabu and Vampurumarabu (Traditional and modern or neo) suggest that in this age, new methods of singing began displacing the traditional ways. It must also be noted historians call the age of Silappathikaaram ‘Sangam Maruviya Kaalam.’ From this and other researches it can be concluded that as more and more people began to settle in Tamizhagam the educated Anthanars translated what they learnt from their own language into Sanskrit. This went on for long till all the Tamil works were lost. Even about 460 years ago Venkatamahi, son of Govinda Dikshidar, the Prime Minister to the Chola king arranged together the modes of pann-s used in south Indian music but wrote his work in Sanskrit and called in Chaturthandhi Praka- shika. Such constant changes, therefore, from one language to another lead to number of errors and admixtures, so much so, that the original meaning is often lost in the second language. ANCIENT SCIENCE OF SIDDHARS Anaivaari R. Anandan Tamil Siddha system of Medicine is the ancient, unique and potent system among all the systems of medicine existing at present. It was invented by Siddhars who were the Spiritual Scientists of the ancient Tamil Land. Siddhars were men of great cul- ture, of knowledge, of both physical and spiritual combined with magical powers. $ P "8 % 712 According to Sinclair Stevenson “the general belief is that Siddhars have no body and the occupation of boundless space by them is not to be physically understood”. Siddha science is a well defined medical science which originated in the erstwhile Lemurian continent and followed by the Dravidians, thousands of years before the advent of any other systems of medicine.