Pillaiyar Parai
Parai (Drum) is the ancient percussion instrument of the Thamils but the people who play the Parai are considered as outcastes of the hierarchic community of the Thamils.
It’s the tragedy of the Thamil community.
Because of Casteism and its oppressive nature the power of vibrant performance art is dying down silently.
The people who are talking of cultural identity boast the power of the vibrant art, the Parai (Traditional Drum) and Parai Mela Kooththu (Traditional Drum Dance) but in practice there are little effort and few voices are with it.
There are strong voices to celebrate the power of Cultural Identity but not cultural identities of the Thamil communities.
Parai is not an art of High Culture and not an inside art even in low cultures other than the cultural activities of the Paraiyar Caste.
Power of casteism is playing a killer instinct in the art of Parai or the Power of Parai.
The heart throbbing beats of Parai with the rhythmical movements are vanishing in the horaizon not because of elements outside!
Losing an ancient and vibrant art to casteism and withering of caste identities because of the Oppression of Casteism is the bigger challenge faced by the people who are celebrating caste differences.
There are cultural resistances throughout the years against the oppression of Casteism in the socio-cultural history of the Thamils.
Ironically most of the Gods and Goddesses of the Thamil Cultures are artists but it’s rare to see they are playing Parai, the instrument of the Paraiyar, the oppressed caste of the Thamils.
The Painting of “Pillaiyar Parai” by Kamala Vasuki is another attempt in the cultural history of resistance against oppressions.
Pillaiyar the Artist God of the Thamils came out from his Temple and play the Parai Melam Dance with the traditional drum player whom with his community was blocked to enter into the Temple.
This aroused the question, how can Pillaiyar play the parai?
It’s simple.
God Pillaiyar is a dancer and player of Mirudangam the percussion instrument of the high culture and Pillaiyar is the Master of Arts and Knowledge too.
It’s not brilliant enough to ask, how can Pillaiyar play the Parai?
If we are going to ask the question again and again, then it’s not the problem of the God Pillaiyar, It’s ours.
The question is how we are going to solve our problem and inherit a vibrant and ancient art into our cultures in order to build communities which are celebrating similarities and differences?
S.Jeyasankar
