A lecture demonstration on the yazh, a musical instrument that finds mention in Tamil literature from the Sangam era, was held at the Indian Music Experience Museum (IME), J P Nagar last weekend.
It was helmed by Uru Custom Instruments, whose band, Uru Pannar, primarily makes music with yazh and kodhamuzha, another ancient instrument from the Sangam period.
The event was part of IME’s first ever ‘Museum Week’, aligned with the theme ‘Museums for Education and Research’, as set by the International Council of Museums. The organisation aims to highlight the less-known narratives in Indian music history.
Historical significance
The session began with the narration of a story that traced the origin of the vil (Tamil for bowstring) yazh. Pravekha Ravichandran, a vocalist from Uru Pannar, shared how a character named Mupan, a hunter from the Sangam period, first discovered the musical potential of his bowstring.
This was followed by Ravichandran taking on the role of Mupan with a vocal performance of the song ‘Vandene’ (which means “come” in Tamil). He was accompanied by Tharun Sekar, founder of Uru, on the seven-stringed sangotti yazh, though he limited himself to playing a single string.
Sekar then offered insights from the ‘Tolkappiyam’, the oldest known Tamil text and spoke about their musical significance.
Reconstructing the yazh
Uru embarked on the challenging task of reconstructing the yazh by delving into various Sangam era texts like ‘Thirumurugatrupatai’ and ‘Sirupanatruppatai’, which provide information about the instrument.
The yazh was crafted in shapes inspired by living organisms, such as peacocks and fish. The body was meant to resemble the belly of a pregnant woman in her eighth month. Yazhs varied in string count.
The ancient yazh was made with red sandalwood and deer skin. However, both materials are currently illegal. Hence, Uru uses goat skin and red cedar wood. All reconstructed yazhs by Uru are electric, and can be attached to a DI unit and even an FX pedal.
Uru Custom Instruments continues to document and share their performances on YouTube.
For details, go to @uru_custominstruments on Instagram