Center for the Study of Hindu Traditions

Carnatic music concert on the Jaltarangam by Mrs. Seetha Doraiswamy and Ms. Ganavya Doraiswamy, accompanied by Abishek Raaja on the mridangam.

Seetha Doraiswamy (82) is the only female professional player of the jaltarangam instrument. She has given over a thousand concerts in India, the middle east and USA and has given recitals for many television and radio stations in India. Mrs Doraiswamy is committed to spreading the knowledge of this little known art form to anyone who is interested.

Jalatarangam (“Water waves”) is an instrument with a set of at least 15 porcelain cups of different sizes and thickness filled with water to various levels. The cups are arranged in the form of a semi circle, in front of the player. These are struck with bamboo sticks to get the right note.

Each cup gives a different tone, and this has to be adjusted to get the required tone by adding or reducing water. The larger and thicker cups give low tones while the smaller and thinner one, the shriller tones. Hence, each cup has to be suitably filled with water to get the different tone for each raga, and hence changing from one song to the next of a different raga could be time consuming. In cold climates, only hot water has to be used as cold water does not give the required effect.

A pair of small bamboo sticks of not more than 9 inches in length (23 cms) neatly cut and tapering at one end is used for playing the instrument. One needs to have a perfect hand coordination between the two hands and excellent knowledge of the Raagas and Tala (rhythm) to produce a perfect recital.

Free for students with ID; $15 per person or $25 per family. Cosponsored by the Center for World Arts.