Taala and Ghagri: Rhythm Instruments Used in Karnataka's Folk Music
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Taala and Ghagri: Rhythm Instruments Used in Karnataka's Folk Music

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Shilpa Mudbi Kothakota

Shilpa is a filmmaker, theatre practitioner and singer. She has made films on agriculture, rural development and women's empowerment for the Karnataka State Department of Agriculture, the University of Agricultural Sciences, Samvada-Baduku and Karnataka Mahila Samkhya. In 2017, Shilpa along with her husband, Adithya Kothakota, founded Urban Folk Project.

Expert narration and performances of taala and ghagri, the folk instruments of Karnataka.

Indian classical and folk music shares the same roots in terms of the rhythms they are based upon. Though most of the rhythm (taal) instruments are leather-made, there are a few accompanying instruments in metal as well. In Karnataka, there are two such instruments, taala and ghagri namely. They could be made either in brass or iron. This video shows the uses of both these instruments in the musical and storytelling performances of various folk troupes of Karnataka. Prof. Kuruva Basavraj of Janapada University talks about these instruments and their position in the larger instrumental tradition in Indian classical and folk music.