Chennai Sangamam (Tamil: சென்னை சங்கமம்) is a large annual open Tamil cultural festival held in the city of Chennai. The festival is organized by the Tamil Maiyam and Department of Tourism and Culture of the Government of Tamil Nadu with the intention of rejuvenating the old village festivals, art and artists. The festival is centered around the occasion of Tamil harvest festival of Pongal, and takes place for a week long period. The festival is conceived to be the longest and biggest open Festival in India.
The idea of organizing a festival during Pongal showcasing the culture of Tamil Nadu was conceived by Kanimozhi, Member of Parliament from Tamil Nadu and daughter of M Karunanidhi and Rev.Fr. Jegath Gaspar Raj, founder of Tamil Maiyam, in September 2006. The festival was rolled out in 2007, with patronization of the Government of Tamil Nadu.
The festival is organized at various places in Chennai including beaches, parks, corporation grounds, college / school grounds and shopping malls. The idea to have it in the open parks, beaches and streets was an inspiration from the Bangaluru Habba celebrations. The events that mark the festival include traditional and folk music shows folk dances, martial arts, classical music and dance performances, street plays, drama / theater, etc. Apart from these, food component got added in the second edition of Chennai Sangamam in 2008 where food outlets catering traditional Tamil cuisine also became part of the celebrations. More than 2,000 performers take part in the event which accommodates around 4,000 performances annually.
The thavil (Tamil: wikt:தவில்) or tavil is a barrel shaped drum from South India. It is used in temple, folk and Carnatic music, often accompanying the nadaswaram. The thavil and the nadaswaram are essential ingredients of traditional festivals and ceremonies in South India.
The thavil consists of a cylindrical shell hollowed out of a solid block of jackfruit wood. Layers of animal skin (water buffalo on the right, goat on the left) are stretched across the two sides of the shell using hemp hoops attached to the shell. The right face of the instrument has a larger diameter than the left side, and the right drum head is stretched very tightly, while the left drum head is kept loose to allow pitch bending. The larger face is higher in pitch than the smaller face. The larger face projects this size because the rim is wide.
The instrument is either played while sitting, or hung by a cloth strap (called nadai) from the shoulder of the player. The right head is played with the right hand, wrist and fingers. The player usually wears thumb caps on all the fingers of the right hand, made of hardened glue from maida flour. The left head is played with a short, thick stick made from the wood of the portia tree. It is not uncommon for left-handed players to use the opposite hands, and some nadaswaram groups feature both a right- and a left-handed thavil player.