Drums back on centre stage in Odisha

After being hit by the onslaught of high decibel gadgets and virtually pushed into oblivion, traditional drum beaters are back on the centre-stage, at least in these parts of coastal Odisha.
Legal brakes on high decibel musical groups have seemingly provided the breather to traditional drum beating, that has almost been reduced to a dying profession.
The noise pollution Act has come as a blessing in disguise for these indigenous cultural troupes "For us, beating dholki is still a part-time profession. Now we are in demand, thanks to High Court directions on restricting the sound limit. We were getting hardly two to three orders for performance. Now it has tripled," said Harihar Goud, a traditional drum-beater.

"Drum beating art that was pushed to the background not long back, is apparently on a revival path. Services of traditional drum beaters were much sought after during the Dussehra, Laxmi puja festivities and immersion ceremony of the Goddess," remarked Damodar Sadangi, a local musician.
Dhoki, Mridangas and Madalas are traditional forms of drums. Drum beaters are dexterous in their inimitable style while dancing to the tune of drum-beating. For the observers, it is a treat to watch, Sadangi noted.
"It's heartening to note that the art is now beginning to get noticed in the rock music era. It is a melodious fusion of music and dance. This form of art needs to be patronized," said researcher Basudev Das.

"Our performances were often getting limited to periodic religious functions in villages. Besides in marriage procession and sacred ceremony rituals, our services were being sought. Since past one year or so, our troupes are performing in immersion processions for Dussehra, Laxmi puja, Ganesh puja and Khudurkuni puja", remarked Nirakar Puhana, the head of a traditional drum-beating group.

"Side by side with band parties, we have engaged the traditional Dholki beaters for the immersion ceremony." said Ananta Kumar Kar, a puja organiser.
"We are now facing tough competition from traditional drum beaters because of court restriction on sound limit. The number of shows has gone down. We had procured the sound-generating amplifier boxes before imposition of various legal restrictions on sound limit," said R Ramamurthy, owner of a Berhampur-based musical band party.

The amplifier boxes at our disposal are not compatible with the restrictions and we are performing under constant fear of police crackdown, he said.