Thudumbu and Thudumbattam are played at temple festivals in and around Coimbatore.
We went to Coimbatore for a concert but decided to stay back for a short holiday and ended up doing research on the instrument thudumbu, locally known as jamab.
Thudumbu belongs to the Kovai (Coimbatore) region. It is also known as kidumutti, thidumam, uruti and chera thudumbu.
The origin of the name thudumbu has been attributed to the Thudumbars, a tribal community living in Pollachi, Mettupalayam, Karamadai, Nilgris and Kovai areas. It is learnt that the members of this community used to serve and entertain the Chola, Chera and the Pandya kings and feudal lords,who went for ‘vana bhojana’ in the forests. The thudumbu was also played to chase away the wild animals. […]
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