The last of his kind
P.V.Raman, of Peramangalam, Thrissur has a rare talent. He is the only maker of kombu - a musical instrument that is played as an accompaniment in the panchavadyam.
Letter from London
Over the last 27 years, Raman must have made more than 20,000 kombus. In fact, Margaret Birley, of Horniman Museum, London, who heard of Raman's work, visited him in 2002 and returned with a kombu to be displayed in the museum. Later, he wrote to Raman saying that his kombu provides the museum's visitors a `glimpse of the wealth of the musical culture of Kerala.' Thrilled by the knowledge that musical lovers the world over will see his work, he treasures the letter.
The sole maker of kombu, Raman has no disciples. According to him, while he was an apprentice, his guru, Velukkuty Moosari, ordered him to forget what he had learned and never to make a kombu. Although worried about his future, as making kombus was his only means of a livelihood, he obeyed his guru. On his deathbed, his guru gave him permission to make one. Raman then realised that the reason why his guru ordered him thus was from the belief that no second person can make a kombu along with the guru when he was alive. If he did, he would meet death.
Raman, now 64, believes that whatever he has achieved is a result of his guru's blessings. To make a kombu he says, " One's mind has to be as pious as a poojari before the deity." Though he is illiterate, all the related mathematics in making a kombu is sculptured in his mind. He is also a sculptor who makes idols of Gods.
Kundur Sathya Narayanan
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