‘Mizhavu- a silent drum beat

‘‘Mizhavu’ – A Silent Drum Beat. Documentary 35 mm,film format English-35mm ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ‘Mizhavu’ is a typical Kerala drum which is believed to have an antiquity of nearly 2000 years. It is the oldest drum existing in the world. It is exclusively used for the performances of koodiyattom , the age- old Sanskrit Theatre and its allied forms of koothu and Nangiarkoothu. As these art forms are confined to the Koothambalams( the typical Kerala temple auditorium ) in temples ,the ’mizhavu’ continues to be less popular these days. ‘Mizhavu’ the 35 minute documentary attempts at highlighting the potentialities of this Kerala drum by featuring all aspects of it from its genesis and application to future prospects . Excerpts from Koodiyattam, koothu and Nangiarkoothu have been included for the same purpose. ‘Mizhavu’ is believed to be of Dravidian origin. Later it came to be brahminised. The rituals of initiation and burial of the ’mizhavu’ is in the brahministic tradition. A ‘Mizhavu’ is also supposed to become a Brahmin through upaanayana. Though a brahmin is never burried in the temple premises, a ‘mizhavu’, once it is too old to be in use, is given burial within the temple premises itself. The living maestro of’ mizhavu’ Panipadathilakan P. K. Narayanan Nambiar and the internationally acclaimed koodiyattam exponent Ammannur Madhava Chakiar, through their presence in this film stress the importance of the ‘mizhavu’ performance in Koodiyattom, koothu and Nangiarkoothu.