How Chennai’s instrument makers gear up for the Margazhi music season

Chennai springs to life during December with Carnatic music. Even as performers get ready, Chennai’s instrument makers are gearing up to, and attending to last-minute orders. A look at the many musical instrument shops across Chennai that look forward to the Marghazhi season.

Come December, and Chennai springs to life with the sound of Carnatic music. Sabhas — as performing spaces are referred to — come alive, as vocalists and instrumentalists put forth their best performances, dishing out popular and rare kritis and varnams.

It’s not just the city’s rasikas who look forward to this Margazhi season. Also waiting with bated breath are Chennai’s instrument makers. How are they gearing up for the season?

The Sruthilaya

Yuko Matoba from Japan makes an annual visit to Chennai during the music season. A veena teacher and performer, she heads to all the leading sabhas of the city, and also makes it a point to stop at The Sruthilaya, an instrument shop on Royapettah High Road.

“We’re WhatsApp friends now,” smiles R Lakshmanagoswami, who runs the shop.

The origin of this unlikely friendship dates back a few years, when Yuko ventured into his shop enquiring about a ‘special melam veena’ that she wanted to take back to her country. This is a veena that Lakshmanagoswami conceptualised a decade ago, after trying out several permutations and combinations in the traditional instrument structure, and tailor-making it to the needs of the constant traveller and changing climatic conditions across the globe. “A veena is like a train track. If exposed to extreme heat or cold, it can come off like a train track. Also, if even one of the many kattai (blocks) attached to it comes off, the sound of the music can be off and a performer will not be able to play properly,” says Lakshmanagoswami.

Starting off at a price point of ₹50,000, Lakshmanagoswami’s ‘special melam veena’ is among the hotsellers in his store, which has been operating from this location since 2000. He has been in the business since 1989, when he started off with an outlet in Thanjavur.