Ilayaraja, the grandson of thavil vidwan Soundararaj Pillai, was initially groomed by his father K.S. “Though not all listeners understood the nuances, the response was on account of several factors including the skill of the artistes and the ambience of the temple festivities.” “Thavil artistes like Yaazhpanam Thedchanamoorthy commanded a huge fan following,” said Lalitharam. According to Lalitharam, the audiences earlier were drawn more by its sound than the songs or ragas played. Till six or seven decades ago, the nagaswaram enjoyed good audiences, but interest in it has been dwindling over the years. Ilayaraja pointed out that some temples in the villages surrounding Jaffna in Sri Lanka still follow the tradition. “Not many temples now have an exclusive nagaswaram-thavil group,” said Lalitharam. While this is still adhered to in certain important temples like Chidambaram and Tiruvarur, others have let it slip. They spoke of how the nagaswaram tradition boasts of an elaborate system of executing different kinds of musical pieces depending on the rituals being performed. Prakash Ilayaraja and music chronicler Lalitharam Ramachandran (the video is now available on Rasika Ranjani Sabha’s YouTube page). Many such aspects of the instrument were highlighted at a lec-dem by nagaswaram player Idumbavanam V. For instance, the playing of a piece like Thaligai Mallari signifies that food is being offered ( naivedhyam) to the deity. The nagaswaram, because of its sonorous nature, draws attention to the performance of temple rituals and social celebrations. Apart from being played on concert platforms, it is also a medium of announcement akin to instruments like the ekkalam and murasu. Among the several instruments used in temples, the nagaswaram has the unique distinction of having been conceptualised to serve a dual purpose. The importance of the temple in sustaining instruments like nagaswaram and thavil cannot be stressed enough.
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