The tradition & historical record
1 min read · 2 sourcesA mizhav or mizhavu (Malayalam: മിഴാവ്) is a big copper drum played as an accompanying percussion instrument in the Koodiyattam and Koothu, the performing arts of Kerala, which include nangiar koothu, chakyar koothu, and mizhavu thayambaka. It is played by the Ambalavasi Nambiar community. When in 1965 the Kerala Kalamandalam began teaching Koodiyattam, the caste barrier on playing the instrument was broken. The drum is played only with hands. The Sanskrit name of the nambiar, "Pānivāda", derives from 'pāni', meaning "hands", and 'vāda', from the verb 'vādanam', meaning "playing". Mizhavu is treated as a "Brahmachaarya" and it is considered sacred. It is used to accompany the holy ritualistic temple performance of Koodiyattam and Koothu. Only Ambalavasi Nambiar community members are allowed to play it inside temples or Koothambalams still. 1
The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Mizhavu”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. 1
mizhavu is type of Percussion instrument, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. 2
The source record links this tradition to 3 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. 2