mridangam

Table of Contents

Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

Watch and hear a person playing the mridangam drum of the Carnatic music tradition

Read Next

Woman Playing a Theorbo to Two Men, oil on canvas by Gerard Terborch, 1667-1668. (Baroque Art)

What’s That Sound?: 8 Intriguing Early Musical Instruments

the Beatles. Publicity still from Help! (1965) directed by Richard Lester starring The Beatles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr) a British musical quartet. film rock music movie

What's the Difference Between Tempo and Rhythm?

The last big concert of Jimi Hendrix before he died in London was in Germany on the isle of Fehmarn 6th of September 1970. The festival was called Love-and-Peace-Festival.

Is 27 an Especially Deadly Age for Musicians?

Old broken disused piano with damaged keys

Is the Piano a Percussion or a Stringed Instrument?

Discover

Facsimile of one of William Henry Ireland's forgeries, a primitive self-portrait of William Shakespeare(tinted engraving). Published for Samuel Ireland, Norfolk Street, Strand, December 1, 1795. (W.H. Ireland, forgery)

The Time a Law Clerk Successfully Forged a New Shakespeare Play to Impress His Dad

Indian hijras participate in a religious procession in Gandhinagar, India, some 30 kilometers from Ahmedabad, on March 22, 2017. Hijra is a term used in South Asia which refers to transgender individuals who are born male. (gender identity, gender expression)

6 Cultures That Recognize More than Two Genders

The Prado Museum facade at the Diego Velaszquez memorial. Established in 1819, the museum is considered the best collection of Spanish art and one of the world's finest collections of European art. Madrid, Spain

20 Paintings You Have to Visit at the Museo del Prado in Madrid

The Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863. (Civil War, Pennsylvania)

9 Worst Generals in History

Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician and autodidact.

6 Interesting Facts about Srinivasa Ramanujan

Four year old boy with grandfather and father lighting Hanukkah menorah. Photo taken on: December 21st, 2009

Which Is Correct: Hanukkah or Chanukah?

Town of Sisimiut located on the coast of the Davis Strait on Kangerluarsunnguaq Bay, Greenland

The Largest Islands in the World

mridangam

musical instrument

Also known as: mrdanga, mrdangam, mridanga

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

Also spelled:: mrdangam, mridanga, or mrdanga

Related Topics:: tubular drum; South Asian music

See all related content

mridangam, two-headed drum played in Carnatic music of southern India. It is made of wood in an angular barrel shape, having an outline like an elongated hexagon. Thong hoops around each end of the drum, leather thong lacing, and small wooden dowels slipped under the lacings control the skin tension.

A removable patch of tuning paste is affixed to each end, giving the drum a definite pitch. The left head is usually tuned an octave lower than the right. The drum is held across the lap and played on both ends with the hands and fingers. A similar instrument, the pakhavaj, is played in the Hindustani tradition of northern India, as well as in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Virginia Gorlinski.