The moment he knew that this was it, S Gopakumar was ecstatic. The percussion player and teacher from Puducherry, is the inventor of Arumukhanam, a six-faced percussion instrument.
“I worked on it for five-and-a-half years,” he recalls. Introduced in December 2001 as the ‘percussion instrument of Pondicherry’ by then Chief Minister of the Union Territory, N Rangasamy, the instrument changed Gopakumar’s life. The 53-year-old obsessed over it; it was all he thought about during its making.
“I tried various sound systems and positions, before finally arriving at six faces,” he says. For instance, he tried arranging the drums in the pattern of a lotus, only to realise that it didn’t work. “It had to be portable and something that can be handled easily,” he says. An assistant professor at Bharathiyar Palkalaikoodam, Gopakumar is originally from Thiruvananthapuram. He’s been playing percussion since he was seven years old. “I came to Puducherry in 1988,” he says.
During his initial days as a mridangam player, Gopakumar remembers how whenever he performed at other States, people asked him what musical instrument Puducherry had that was unique to it. “‘Every State has its own musical instrument, what did Puducherry have?’ was a common refrain,” he recalls. Gopakumar decided to get to work. He researched extensively, and as a mridangam player, it was natural that he was inclined towards percussion.
Gopakumar worries about the many musical instruments that have now become extinct. “The main reason for this is lack of artistes to learn to play them,” he says. “I found that one particular instrument was being played by just one man, and naturally, it will die out after him,” he adds. To keep his invention alive, Gopakumar teaches children to play it. “I’ve held free camps and workshops at which over 300 students learned to play the instrument,” he says.
Among his students is Naidhruvane K. The 13-year-old has been playing the Arumukhanam for four years now. “I was thrilled when I saw the instrument,” says Naidhruvane. “I enjoy playing it. While doing so, the left and right side of the brain work simultaneously, enhancing memory power,” he says.
Born in Puducherry, Naidhruvane says that when he plays the Arumukhanam, he forgets all else. “My mind is free from thoughts,” he says. He has performed at various stages, among the audience of many of which, was his teacher.
“I often sit among the audience and see my students perform,” says Gopakumar. The feeling when he sees them play the instrument, and enjoy the process, is indescribable.
Naidhruvane will be playing the Arumukhanam tomorrow from 7 pm to 8 pm at Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, Sri Aurobindo Street, Puducherry. The event, part of Pondicherry Heritage Festival, will also have students of Shoba Raghavan singing folk songs from various States.