Two innovative startups in Tamil Nadu are proving that reviving ancient musical instruments can have a promising future. These ventures focus on recreating traditional Tamil instruments, such as the yazh, mulavu, parai, and pushkaram—the triple-faced drum. Alongside crafting these instruments, the startups also offer training to learn how to play them.
N. Manikandan, a 25-year-old sound engineer from Erode, founded Aguli Native Musicals just before the pandemic. With a degree from the Chennai Film Institute and a master’s in mridangam, Manikandan’s journey into the music world was not dictated by family tradition. “I wasn’t born into a musical family, but music always attracted me,” he says. However, when he expressed interest in playing the parai, his parents discouraged him, later realizing the instrument’s association with caste stigma.
It wasn’t until Manikandan enrolled in the Dr. Jayalalithaa Music and Fine Arts University for his master’s that he met P. Chandru, his future co-founder, who came from a family of traditional parai artists.
An avid reader of Tamil literature, Manikandan realized that many of the instruments mentioned in ancient texts were no longer in use. On a visit to Zambia, he encountered a local instrument resembling the yazh (harp), which sparked his curiosity. Over his three-month stay, he learned to craft the instrument, which inspired him to make traditional Tamil instruments more accessible and user-friendly.
Manikandan aims to recreate 160 ancient Tamil instruments, starting with 32 types of parai, mulavu, pushkaram, kuzhal (flute), and the yazh. With the backing of Tamil Nadu’s Startup TN, which has provided an equity investment, the duo is confident that technology and machines will allow them to mass-produce these instruments, traditionally handmade by artisans from specific communities, and remove the stigma that surrounds many of them.
“We’re working on prototypes, and while it takes time, our innovation lies in the materials we use. The wood and leather, which will be machine-tanned, are crucial,” says Manikandan. Handmade yazhs can take anywhere from several months to years to complete, depending on their size. With machines, the process can be finished in just a few hours. While there are still a few artisans who can make these instruments by hand, Manikandan notes that Tamil literature also offers valuable guidance. For example, Yazh Nool, a book by Vibulanantha Adigalar, provides detailed instructions for making various yazhs. To achieve accuracy, the team studied the belly of an eight-month-pregnant woman, as described in the book.
Manikandan and Chandru are also hiring music college students, who often struggle to find employment, to train customers in playing these instruments, including through online classes.
Another startup, Uru Instruments, is also focused on reviving ancient Tamil instruments. Founded by architect S. Tharun, Uru Instruments began when Tharun developed a passion for guitar during an internship at Auroville, Puducherry. “Our ancient instruments are far more fascinating than the guitar or violin, but I realized they hadn’t evolved in the same way,” Tharun says, explaining his mission to make them more user-friendly.
Uru Instruments specializes in making various types of yazhs, including peri yazh, sengottu yazh, seeri yazh, and sagoda yazh, with string counts ranging from seven to 29. This bootstrapped startup, incubated by Sairam College of Engineering, recently received a TANSEED fund grant from Startup TN and additional investments from the reality show Startup Singam. Tharun’s peri yazh, shaped like the mythical Annapparavai swan, took him two years to create. One challenge for the startup has been sourcing the raw materials, especially red cedar, which is essential for crafting the yazhs. Artisans from Madurai provide the brass components, while artisans from Auroville assist with polishing the wooden parts.
Both startups have attracted international clients, with overseas customers now making up nearly 95% of their sales. Manikandan, leveraging his background in sound engineering, has even developed a syllabus for teaching these ancient instruments. “Tamil instruments are the easiest to learn, and playing them is a great way to relieve stress,” he says. Recently, software engineers have shown increasing interest in learning them, underscoring the growing appeal of these traditional instruments.
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