BRONZE ITEMS PART 3 Continued from part 2
12 KATHAKALI CHENGALA There is no Kathakali without Chengala. Thebeautiful and musical and melodious sounds of Chengala nobody can forget evenafter kathakali was over. Chengala is moulded item and one side is rough.Chengala is played striking on the non-polished side. Chengala is used alongwith singing and individually also during play. Along with Kathakali padamsung, in tune Chengala is strike by the singer. In Malayalam it is called “Kotti patuka”. 12a. SREEBALI andCHENGALA Chengala Is played along with other drums during the1st circumambulation of the deity during sreebali. Normally chengalais played by the same marar who handle chenda also. It is a tricky art. 13. ELATHALAM Elathalam is normally used along with Uruttu chenda.Since I have told much of elathalam in the Trichur pooram nostalgia, I feel anyrepetition by me would be boring to me also. Playing is done by strikingtogether the two non-polished side. 14. KAIMANI ORCHINCHILI It is minielathalam used along with music either in concerts or in Bhajana.Bhajana along with Kaimani sound is very enjoyable. Members may be recollectingthe sastha preethi songs,followed with kaimani’s strong and light sounds, like “Vararitho, Aiyyanvararitho” or Bhajans like “Yanai mukhathon thampi, Arul kumaranikkilayonVanavar pottum vani Vanthenukku Arulavendum…” 15 VALKANNATI It may beastonishing for at least some members that the famous Valkannati from AranmulaKerala is made by specialised artisans using Bronze and particular type of sand.The manufacturing methods for the alloy are kept reserved by artisans. TheValkannati (literally tailed mirror) is representativeof Lakshmi - the goddess of prosperity. Bronzeis cast mostly in northern Kerala. Places like Payyannur and Kunhimangalam in Kannur, Irinjalakuda inThrissur, and Pallippuram in Palakkad - are all in the northern regions making mouldbronze items. In the south Kerala Aranmula and Mannar in Alappuzha districthave several bronze casting units. 16. KOOJA One of the important and interesting domesticapplication was/is Kooja. This vessel used to take one to one and a half litreof its liquid contents. Bulging in middle and circular at top and bottom,having a screwing lid at top and a handle on it. Kooja is used to carry milk,water, payasam, coffee etc. Normally musicians and dance artists used to havetheir own coffee or water carrying in Kuja. Normally in musical concerts the musicians use tohave them when they go to stage. In dance performances the dancer use to havewater or milk from it carrying from home. At what time it started as a procedure I am notsure, a supporting or accompanying person use to carry and offer liquids fromthe Kooja to the artist from it. Sometimes the kooja holder totally depended onthe performer for his living and the holder himself was sarcastically calledKooja. In Tamilnadu aperson playing 2nd fiddle is called Kooja. I will conclude Kuja with a humorous story of a Nampoothiriand Postmaster. Nampoothiri’s son was employed at Kochi and Nampoothiri was inCalicut. Nampoothiri wanted to send some Idichu Pizhinja payasam to his sonafter a festive occasion in the illam. Nampoothiri approached the postmaster ofCalicut. He asked him, just like sending telegram whether he could send Payasamin a Kooja to Kochi. The postmaster looked at the bronze shining kooja. He was very much got attracted to the kooja.He told Nampoothiri that there is no difficulty and it can be send. Nampoothiriconfirmed whether the kooja would come back after his son drank the payasam.Postmaster confirmed positively. Nampoothiri paid charges for Kooja withpayasam going to Kochi and empty kooja for coming back. After two days Nampoothiri wanted to collect thekooja back. Postmaster master welcomed the Nampoothiri. Postmaster toldNampoothiri-While the kooja was going to Kochi unfortunately from Kochi theysend an Ulakka to Calicut. Hence the kooja got hit and it fell down. The humouris Postmaster enjoyed the payasam and kept the kooja with him. This humour I have read in my childhood days. Hence I am not able to say the authority of the book. 17. THE BRONZE AGE Theearliest bronze was probably made by accident. Some copper ore deposits also naturally contain smallamounts of tin. When such ore wasrefined, the metal looked like copper but was harder and more useful for making tools, weapons, andartwork. Early metal workers appreciated this improved "copper" andlater learned to mix copper and tin,sometimes with other metals, in different proportions to obtain variousdesirable alloys. The Bronze Age is, with respect to a givenprehistoric society, the period in that society when the most advancedmetalworking (at least in systematic and widespread use) includedmelting copper and tin from naturally-occurring outcroppings of copper and tinores, creating a bronze alloy by melting those metals together, and casting them into bronze artefacts. 18. SIMPLE TECHNICAL MATTERS Anyalloy, or mixture, of copper and tin is called bronze. Many bronze alloys alsocontain small amounts of other materials. Bronze was one of the first alloys developed by ancientmetal workers. It has valuable uses in making not only tools andmachinery, but also works of art. Thesimplest bronze is copper mixed with small amounts of tin. Tin increaseshardness, making bronze more resistant to wear than is copper. Bronzes with 10 percent or more tinare harder, stronger, and more resistant to corrosion than brass, which is acopper and zinc alloy. They have been used for bearings, electrical hardware,springs, and clips. Bell bronze is very hard and provides aspecial tone to bells that no otheralloy can match. It is one fifth to one fourth tin. Nickel bronze, which addsnickel to the alloy, is hard and resistant to wear. It is used to make gearsand machinery bearings. Phosphor bronze contains a small amount of phosphorus. Phosphorusfurther increases the hardness and wears resistance of bronze. In addition, it allows molten bronze to flowbetter, which enhances its castingquality. Leaded bronze has lead, usually small amounts, mixed in to act as alubricant. Such bronze isoften used to make machine parts, such as bearings, that must endure alot of sliding action against other parts. Silicon bronze has small amounts ofsilicon, which makes it grow strongerwhen it is worked, such as by rolling.It is also particularly resistant tocorrosion and is used in boilers, pumps, water wheels, parts for ships, and electricalparts. Probably Mr Venkataraman may be able to write more on parts of ships using Bronze Somealloys of copper without tin are also called bronzes. For example, there arecopper-aluminium alloys called aluminium bronze.This alloy may also include iron, nickel, and silicon to add greater strength. Aluminium bronze is used to make tools and, because it will not sparkwhen struck, manythings that will be used around flammable materials. Aluminiumbronze is also used for aircraft and automobile engine parts.Manganese bronze is actually a brass that contains manganese. It is often used to make ship propellersbecause it is strong and resists corrosion by seawater. Bronze is nowwidely used in making tools and machinery as well as in making coins. 19 WORKING PROPERTIES OF BRONZE Sinceancient times, bronze has been the most popular metal for casting statues andother art objects. It ispreferred because of the unique way in which molten bronze becomes a solid.After molten bronze is poured into a mould, it expands as it cools and fillsevery detail of the mould. When it solidifies and cools further, it shrinks slightly so the final piece of art does notstick to the mould. With time, the bronze takes on a range ofcolours caused by oxidation of thesurface, an effect that is called a patina. One form of bronze is an alloy made ofcopper and arsenic. Really ancient bronze is madeusing arsenic instead of tin. Arsenicas an element is far more common than tin. The literary writings,especially the Rig Veda and other archaeological evidences clearly establishthe art of bronze casting to be more than 5000 years old. Bronzewith its tarnish-resistant, soft surface and the old gold tint, is used in avariety of household articles, especially in cooking dishes and eating plates. The 'kansari' metalworkers of Orissa cast an exquisiterange of bronze vessels. Kerala- the home of bronze, is famed for 'rules'- wide cooking vessels and a range ofelegantly shaped tumblers. In northern India, Uttar Pradesh, is predominant inthe large-scale manufacture of utilitarian metal ware. Temple Bell craft is practised in places likeKumbakonam and Nachiarkoil in TanjoreDistrict of Tamil Nadu, the most important aspect in the bell productionis making of proper alloy consisting of copper and tin to get the correctsound . Therecommended ratio of the above metals to achieve the required alloy is 80:20 of Copper: Tin.There are three types of bells like Pooja Bells, Temple Bells and ChurchBells. The wonder of the Art is that smelting and casting are done byprimitivemethods and no modern machines and Furnaces are used. It is village art passedfrom generation to generation. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. 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