CHENDA MELAM

The chenda is a cylindrical percussion instrument used widely in the state of kerala, tulu nadu of Karnataka and Tamil nadu in India. In tulu nadu it is known as chande.A chenda is a cylindrical wooden drum, and has a length of two feet and a diameter of one foot. Both ends are covered (usually with animal’s skin) with the “Chenda vattam”. The animal skin is usually of a cow (heifer), in a traditional chenda other skins are not used (skin of bull, ox etc. Are not used), to have a quality sound the skin from the abdominal part of the cow is taken. The chenda is suspended from the drummers neck so that it hangs vertically. Though both sides can be used for playing, only one is actually beaten. Using two sticks, the drummer strikes the upper parchment.