Twelve year old Thavil Vidushi astounds the world

03-04-2018

A seventh standard student from Tamil Nadu has become one of the youngest Thavil vidushis in the country. Amrithavarshini Manishankar is possibly one of the very few women artistes that play this instrument, considered the forte of men traditionally, in India.

Amrithavarshini has been playing since the age of five and has had the fortune of being trained under maestros such as Kovilur KG Salyanasundaram and Adichapuram AB Ramdoss.

Amrithavarshini's father being a thavil musician himself along with her mother who is a scholar of music, paved the way for the little talent in an exemplary way. This must have been the right impetus for the girl prodigy to have performed more than a couple of hundreds of shows.

The thavil is a percussion musical instrument that is native to Thanjavur of Tamil Nadu. It is a barrel shaped instrument traditionally engaged in Carnatic as well as folk music besides being an integral part of devotional music attributed to many temples in South India.

Confidence is replete in the words of Amruthavarshini that women could do that as well as the contribution of women into such arts in the present day's social environment was essential. She added that she had restricted her daily practice to two hours since she had also to study well.

Amrithavarshini also disclosed before the media after a performance that she had been inspired by the lack of women in the segment of thavil to take up the instrument in particular.