Table Of ContentThe Indian Drum of the King-God and
ā
the Pakh vaj of Nathdwara
The book studies the evolution of the ancient drum mṛdaṅga into the
pakhāvaj, crossing more than 2,000 years of history. While focusing on the
Nathdwara school of pakhāvaj, the author joins ethnographic, historical,
religious and iconographic perspectives to argue a multifaceted interpret-
ation of the role and function of the pakhāvaj in royal courts, temples and
contemporary stages. Furthermore, he offers the first analysis of the visual
and narrative contents of its repertoire.
Paolo Pacciolla is Tagore Fellow affiliated with the Indira Gandhi National
Centre for the Arts of New Delhi, where he is conducting research on ritual
drumming in Kerala. His main ethnographic focus is on music in India, and
his research interests include Ethnomusicology, Organology, Iconography of
Music, Indology and Religious Studies.
SOAS Studies in Music
Series Editors:
Rachel Harris, SOAS, Universityof London, UK
Rowan Pease, SOAS, University of London, UK
Board Members:
Angela Impey, SOAS, Universityof London, UK
Noriko Manabe, Temple University, USA
Suzel Reily, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil
Martin Stokes, Kings College London, UK
Richard Widdess (SOAS, Universityof London)
SOAS Studies in Music is today one of the world’s leading series in the dis-
cipline of ethnomusicology. Our core mission is to produce high-quality,
ethnographically rich studies of music-making in the world’s diverse musical
cultures. We publish monographs and edited volumes that explore musical
repertories and performance practice, critical issues in ethnomusicology,
sound studies, historical and analytical approaches to music across the
globe. We recognize the value of applied, interdisciplinary and collaborative
research, and our authors draw on current approaches in musicology and
anthropology, psychology, media and gender studies. We welcome mono-
graphs that investigate global contemporary, classical and popular musics,
the effects of digital mediation and transnational flows.
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The Indian Drum of the King-God and the Pakhāvaj of Nathdwara
Paolo Pacciolla
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Kwasi Ampene
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/
music/series/SOASMS
The Indian Drum of the
ā
King-God and the Pakh vaj
of Nathdwara
Paolo Pacciolla
Firstpublished2020
byRoutledge
2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OxonOX144RN
andbyRoutledge
52VanderbiltAvenue,NewYork,NY10017
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©2020PaoloPacciolla
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BritishLibraryCataloguing-in-PublicationData
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:Pacciolla,Paolo,author.
Title:TheIndiandrumoftheKing-GodandthepakhāvajofNathdwara/
PaoloPacciolla.
Description:[1.]|NewYork:Routledge,2020.|Series:SOASmusicology
series|Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2019058856|ISBN9780367370237(hardback)|
ISBN9780367370244(ebook)
Subjects:LCSH:Mridanga–History.|Music–Religiousaspects–Hinduism.|
Music–India–Religiousaspects.|Carnaticmusic–Historyand
criticism.|Musicandmythology–India.
Classification:LCCML1038.M74P32020|DDC786.9/40954–dc23
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2019058856
ISBN:978-0-367-37023-7(hbk)
ISBN:978-0-367-37024-4(ebk)
TypesetinTimesNewRoman
bySwales&Willis,Exeter,Devon,UK
TheaudioandvideoexamplescanbeaccessedviatheonlineRoutledgeMusic
ResearchPortal:www.routledgemusicresearch.co.uk.Pleaseentertheactivation
wordRRMusicandyouremailaddresswhenprompted.Youwillimmediately
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To Piero and Rina
Contents
Listoffigures x
Listofmusicexamples xi
Listofaudiofiles xii
Listofvideofiles xiii
Acknowledgments xiv
Notesonthetranscriptionsandtransliteration xv
1 Introduction 1
Background 1
Fieldworkamongpakhāvajīs 5
Ancientcourts:therootsofamusicaltradition 6
Nathdwara,acontemporaryreignoftheKing-Godandhiscourt 9
Amultidimensionalapproach 11
2 A drum between courts and temples 18
Music,religions,thesacredandthesecularinIndia 18
Paramparāsandgharānāsaccordingtocontemporarypakhāvaj
players 27
3 The pakhāvaj in contemporary India 31
Thepakhāvaj 31
Thepakhāvajandthepakhāvajplayersintheclassicalmusic
sceneofcontemporaryIndia 34
Thepakhāvajheritageaccordingtoitsplayers 40
4 Auspicious drumming 53
Auspiciousness 53
Auspiciousnessanditsroots 55
viii Contents
Theauspiciousartsinliteratureandothertextualsources 56
Rainonthelotuspond 59
Gaja-Lakṣmī 61
Thecloud-drum 65
Rainofblessings 68
5 The drum of the King-God 74
Thesocio-historicalcontextoftheemergenceofthemṛdaṅgaas
majorcourtlydrum 75
Thesoundofthemṛdaṅgaintheaestheticizedlifeofthecourts 77
Śiva,themagnificationofthewarriorking 81
Thedrumgivingvoicetodeath 84
Viṣṇu-Kṛṣṇa,therighteouskingandthebhakticults 87
6 From mṛdaṅga to pakhāvaj 93
Themultiplicationofmṛdaṅgasandtheemergenceofthe
pakhāvaj 93
Frommṛdaṅgatopakhāvajandviceversa:makingthedeśīmārga
andthemārgadeśī 101
7 The Nathdwara gharānā: playing the pakhāvaj for Nāthjı̄ 109
VallabhācaryaandthePuṣṭimārg 109
ŚrīNāthjī,theKing-Godandhisworship 111
TheroleofmusicandaestheticsinthecultofPuṣṭimārg 114
ThefamilyofPurushottamDas 116
PanditDalchandSharmaandmyresearch 121
8 The repertoire 126
Thepakhāvaj:facetsofitslanguageandplayingstyles 126
Compositionaltypes 130
Paransasstructuresbasedongeometricalfigures 131
Paransasprayers 136
Parans,imagesandpoetry 139
Aknowledgeablekingofthe20thcenturyandhisparans 145
Thetorrentandtherain 146
9 The solo pakhāvaj recital 149
Thestructureofthesolorecital 149
Lotuses,garlandsofflowersandthesolopakhāvaj 151
Thesolorecitalofthenathdwaragharānā 156
Contents ix
Stutiparan 157
Madhyalaykaprastār 158
Dhenanakabāj 159
Paran 159
Laytāltornekakata 160
Chandkari 160
Thapiyākabāj 161
Relā 161
10 Conclusion 164
Bibliography 170
Index 186
