Tamil Music
Tamil Music- Origin and instruments used
The origins of ancient music are shrouded in some kind of thick fog like
most ancient and beautiful things. The most powerful intuition may not be
able to permeate to trace the origins of Tamil music. Modern day
philosophers state that in his process of evolving as a human being, man
discovered four things i.e. mime sacrament, music and magic. The origin of
Tamil Music can very well be traced back to the roots of civilization.
Origins of Tamil Music
Tamil Music has its roots from the ancient Tamil state. The most common
among them were the Sangam literature and the Tamil literature that were
transformed to music. Music used to be considered an important part of the
compositions by the Tamil Saiva saints like Appar, Manikkavasagar during the
revival period of the Hindus between the earlier sixth and tenth centuries
CE.
Origins of Sangam Music
The grammatical work of the Sangam era does mention the various music that
pertains to the five major landscapes in the Sangam literature. These five
landscapes are closely related with a specific mood of the poem, and give
life and colour to such moods. Each of these had a melodious instrument, a
musical mood and a percussion instrument. Most of the Sangam era poetry is
utilized in one or more from these parameters throughout their compositions.