Musical instruments of Tamasha

Tamasha is a live song and dance theatrical performance. Naturally, it includes a lot of music in it. Several musical instruments contribute to a single performance of Tamasha. To name a few, there are instruments like ‘dholki’, ‘tuntuni’, ‘manjeera cymbals’, ‘daf’, ‘halgi’, ‘kad', ‘lejim’, ‘harmonium’ and ‘ghunghroos’ which makes a Tamasha performance lively and distinctive.

A Dholki is an instrument that is related to various classical and folk performing arts of India and is not just specific to Tamasha. It is a percussion musical instrument, a kind of a drum. The music that comes out by playing a drum, i.e, Dholki or a Dholak is considered auspicious in India. This is evident if we see the use of ‘Dhaks’ during the festivities of Durga Puja in West Bengal, ‘Dhol’ in Navaratri celebrations of Gujrat and in wedding rituals of northern India.

Dholki, a percussion instrument used in Tamasha

A Tuntuni is a single string instrument that has a distinctive sound that brings out the vibrancy of Maharashtrian folk songs, whereas a Manjeera consists of two small cymbals which when hit together creates a clanking sound. A Daf is another percussion musical instrument that is used in a Tamasha performance. It is has a wooden frame with metal rings attached to it and the membrane is made up of goat skin. A Halgi is a smaller Daf.

A Kad is a triangle made of metal and Lejim is another instrument that causes the jinging sound that is specific to Tamasha’s music.

A Harmonium is one of the most popular keyboard instruments of the country. It has pump attached at the back of the keyboard that blows air through the vessels to create music. Harmonium is again, related to a large number of classical and folk forms of Indian traditional music.

Lastly, the Ghunghroos are the anklets that the dance performers wear during the performance. Although it’s part of the performer’s costume is crucial to the progression of the music in Tamasha. It is very important for jingling of the ghunghroos to be in sync with the beats of the dholki.