Musical pillars
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Sundararajan
Apr 2, 2017, 9:04:20 PM4/2/17
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The musical pillars found in the temples of South India sing to the different tunes .
One will be awe-struck by their technique and beauty. Even today, tourists can tap on the pillars to hear the sounds. The Tapping Pillars or the Blowing Pillars are the two kinds of musical pillars found in the South Indian temples. Tapping Pillars make a sound when you beat or tap on it. Whereas, Blowing Pillars have holes where you can blow air and hear the tunes as it is on the flute. The above picture is at Vittala temple
Seven thin pillars circulate one thick post at the centre . Each of these emit sounds of different instruments. It is said that the British even cut one of the pillars to see what is there inside but they only saw empty pipe.
The musical pillars are a testimony of Hindu art. The Vijaya Vittala Temple in Hampi has 56 Musical Pillars also known as the SaRiGaMa Pillars. Sa , Ri , Ga, Ma, are the four of the seven musical notes. The pillars produce musical tones when struck with a thumb. It sounds like bells ringing.”
“Some sound like musical instruments. The geological analysis of these pillars reveal that the rocks are resonant not only because of the presence of metallic ore, but also because of the large amounts of silica,” say experts.
Nellaiappar Temple at Tirunelveli This large temple is known for its elegant and exotic carvings. The musical pillars are one of the most attractive parts of Nellaiappar Temple. The detailing of the musical pillars are just incredible and each of the pillar make different sounds.
Meenakshi Temple, Madurai
Meenakshi Amman Temple is a masterpiece architecture which has many attractions. Five musical pillars located just outside the thousand-pillared hall
A single pillar is separated in two columns or smaller tender pillars. When they are tapped or struck with stones they emit different musical notes like musical instruments.
A study team led by Dr S Kameswaran, Chief of the Ent Institute in the Madurai General Hospital has analysed the musical pillars in the above temples in 1981.The cluster of pillars carved out of a huge block of resonant stone was played upon with two sticks, provided with a hard striking knob at the ends. The performers stood on opposite sides and played on pillars. Solo music as well as accompaniment was provided by them. Rhythmic accompaniment was given to performances of dance by playing jatis , hols on them; The tone colour of the notes emanating from the pillars resembles the tone colour of the ‘Thala Alangaram’.
Alwar Tirunagari Temple is one of the famous Vishnu Temples in Tamil Nadu. The town of Alwar Tirunagari flourished during the time of Pandya Kings. One of the principle elements of this temple are the musical pillars. Here both tapping pillars and the blowing pillars are found. The stone nadaswaram (double reed wind instrument) is one interesting feature of Alwar Tirunagari Temple.
Stone Nagaswaram is present here
There are small pillars in Sivan Koil of Shenbagarama Nallur near Nanguneri in Tail Nadu. They emit the sound of conch or horn if wind is blown in to the holes.
At Thanumayan temple Suchntram
“The two northern groups present each a cluster of 24 pillars, while the southern ones present each a cluster of 33. A striking feature is that all the pillars of each group, together with the exquisitely carved turret at the top of each group are chiselled out of a single rock of granite. A tap on each of the pillars in a group produces different sound”. though the quality of sound is not as good as Tirunelveli Musical pillars. The study of these pillars werte done with a high fidelity tape-recorder. The analysis of the rock sample (from the pillars) was done at the geology department of Presidency college, Chennai. According to Geology Professor Dr Subramanina, the rock rich in silica, is fairly abundant in Hospet near Hampi in Karnataka.
Watch this video
There is a little known Temple, called the Elephant Temple South of Chennai (Madras). It has special tuned stone pillars and echo chambers at the back, and it was used to make Sacred Sounds that called in the Gods. There is NO mention of the "tuned" stones at the site and you need to find someone to point it
If time permits read this research paper on this
----------------------------------------------------ॐ सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः सर्वे सन्तु निरामयाः । सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु मा कश्चिद्दुःखभाग्भवेत् ।ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥Om, May all become happy, May all be healthy , May all see what is auspicious,May no one suffer . Om Peace, Peace, Peace.----------------------------------------------------
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