Ghatam (Additional Information)

                                  GHATAM

        Ghatam is a south Indian percussion instrument. It is an earthen pot.The artiste uses his fingers, palms, heels of the hands and thumbs to strike the outer surface to produce sound. When the mouth of the Ghatam is hit with an open hand, an airy low pitched sound is produced. This sound is called Gumki. Another way to produce Gumki sound is by pressing the mouth of it against the belly. In this way the tone of the stroke is deepened. By hitting different areas of Ghatam with different parts of hand, different tones are produced.

        Ghatam is like an ordinary clay pot but it is specially made to be played as an instrument. The walls of the instrument should be of even thickness to produce an even tone. There are two types of Ghatam - Madras Ghatam and Manamadurai Ghatam. Less force is required to play Madras Ghatam and it is light weighted. On the other hand, it is harder to play Manamadurai Ghatam, which is heavier. But the sharp metallic ringing sound produced by it is favored by some players.

        Madga (Matka) is the north Indian version of Ghatam. Some kind of metal or graphite dust is added to get a different color and special sound. Madga can also be played with sticks or mallets. South Indian Ghatams are fired at a much lower temperature for a shorter time as compared to instruments like Ghara (Ghada), which are fired at much higher temperature.

          Some noted Ghatam players are Ghatam Suresh, Ghatam Karthik, Bhusurapalli Venkateswarlu, Thetakudi Harihara Subash Chandran.