Drum, small, for ceremonies; brass, goat skin; cotton cloth strikers; Length 12.7 cm.; width 9 cm.
Donor:
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Ready, Jr. Fund
Collection place:
Varanasi (city), Varanasi District, Uttar Pradesh
Verbatim coll. place:
India,Uttar Pradesh,; Benares
Culture or time period:
Indian
Collector:
Renaldo "Ronald" Maduro
Collection date:
January 1970
Materials:
Brass (alloy) and Cotton (textile)
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Drums (membranophones)
Function:
5.4 Secular and Religious Musical Instruments
Accession date:
November 11, 1970
Context of use:
Used by men in temple ceremonies; held in hand, by narrow part of body of drum, then turned back and forth quickly to make sound; usually associated with worship Tantric deities and Shiva; India exh. test (1975): Damarus are found all over India. They consist of wooden or metal hour-glass shaped bodies with two skin heads secured by rope or thread. Two knotted strings tied to the middle strike alternately against the heads when the drum is turned with a rapid wrist action. The function of the damaru is rhythmic, with no tonal variation. It is used by mendicants, juggler and any itinerant performer, traveling with or without an animal to attract attention" Made by men.