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	==References==		==References==
	~~{{Portal\|India\|Music}}~~
	{{Reflist\|30em}}		{{Reflist\|30em}}

134.195.198.252 at 16:13, 12 July 2021

2021-07-12T16:13:58Z

New page

{{see also|Ancient veena|Ancient Tamil music}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2013}}
[[File:Yaarl.jpg|thumb|300px|Modern reproduction of a ''Yazh'', an instrument used in [[Ancient Tamil music]]. This reproduction has a yali head carved into the curved neck.]]

The '''yazhal''' ({{lang-ta|யாழ்}}, also transliterated '''yāḻ''', {{IPA-ta|jaːɻ|pron}}) is an [[arched harp]] used in [[ancient Tamil music]]. It was strung with gut strings that ran from an curved ebony neck to a boat or trough-shaped resonator, the opening of which was a covered with skin for a soundboard. At the resonator the strings were attached to a string-bar or tuning bar that laid on top of the soundboard and had holes for the strings. The neck may also have been covered in hide.<ref name=grove>{{cite encyclopedia |author = Alastair Dick|editor-last= Sadie |editor-first=Stanley |entry= Yāl|encyclopedia= The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments |year=1984 |id= Volume 3 |page=881 |quote=}}</ref><ref name=cornell>{{cite web |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100210134738/http://www.rso.cornell.edu/spicmacay/spicmacay_files/home_files/instr.html |archive-date= 10 February 2010 |url=http://www.rso.cornell.edu/spicmacay/spicmacay_files/home_files/instr.html |title=Musical instruments played in India |publisher=Chapter of SPICMACAY, Cornell University|access-date=16 November 2011 |quote= The yazh is an ancient Dravidian instrument, somewhat like a harp. It was named for the fact that the tip of stem of this instrument was carved into the head of the animal yaali (vyala in Sanskrit). The yazh was an open-stringed polyphonous instrument, with a wooden boat-shaped skin-covered resonator and an ebony stem. It was tuned by either pegs or rings of gut moved up and down the string...was displaced by the veena in the middle ages}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Celebrating unheard melodies|url=http://www.thehindu.com/arts/magazine/article974391.ece|newspaper=The Hindu|date=25 December 2010|location=India |quote=Yazh (a form of harp)...Notes (svaras) are known as Narambu. Narambu are the gut strings used in the Yazh. Each string of the Yazh was tuned to one note therefore this association of Narambu to note.}}</ref>

The arched harp was used in India since at least the 2nd century B.C.E., when a woman was sculped with the instrument in a Buddhist artwork at [[Bharhut|Bhārut]].<ref name=ludvik227>{{cite book|author=Catherine Ludvík|title=Sarasvatī, Riverine Goddess of Knowledge: From the Manuscript-carrying Vīṇā-player to the Weapon-wielding Defender of the Dharma|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4lsYKIXBOK0C&pg=PA227|year=2007|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=978-90-04-15814-6|pages=227–229}}</ref> Both the Indian [[ancient veena|harp-style ''veena'']] and the Tamil ''yazh'' declined starting in about the 7th century C.E., as [[Alapini vina|stick-zither style veenas]] rose to prominence.<ref name=grove/><ref name=cornell/>

The instrument may have a relationship with the mythological ''[[Yali (mythology)|yali]]'', the word for which (யாழி) is linguistically similar to the word for this arched harp (முகம்). Whatever relationship the words may or may not have linguistically, some researchers believe the mythological yali was carved into the tip of the yazh harp's neck.<ref name=cornell/> The relationship between a stringed instrument and the yali is not limited to this Tamil instrument, but also was mentioned by [[Śārṅgadeva]] in his [[Sangita Ratnakara]] as a feature of the [[Eka-tantri vina|ekatantri stick-zither veena]].<ref>{{cite web |title= Varieties of Veena |website= SARASWATHI VEENA(SARASWATI VEENA) |url= http://www.theveena.com/the-veena/varieties-of-vina/ |quote= [paraphrased-translation placed online of parts of the Sangeeta Ratnakara of Sarngadeva]}}</ref> The modern [[Saraswati veena]] retains this feature.<ref name=intotovina>{{cite journal |title= An Introduction to the Vina |author= Karaikudi S. Subramanian |journal= Asian Music |volume= 16 |issue= 2 |date=Spring–Summer 1985 |page= 9-13, 19 |publisher= University of Texas Press |doi = 10.2307/833772 |jstor= 833772 |url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/833772]}}</ref>

==Historical descriptions==
[[File:Kinnara playing a yazh, Kailasanathar Temple in Kanchipuram, India, ca 8th century CE.jpg|thumb|Kinnara playing a yazh, Kailasanathar Temple in Kanchipuram, India, ca. 8th century C.E.<ref>{{cite magazine |title= யாழ் என்னும் இசைக்கருவி - ஒரு பார்வை (translation from Tamil: Jaffna Musical Instrument - A View) |magazine= Varalaaru.com |author= லலிதாராம் (translation from Tamil: Lalitaram) |issue = 8 |date= February 15 - March 14, 2005|url= http://www.varalaaru.com/design/article.aspx?ArticleID=109}}</ref>]]

The Tamil poet [[Thiruvalluvar]] mentions yazh in his work ''[[Thirukkural]]''.<ref name="tamil">{{cite book |title=Tamil culture |editor=Xavier S. Thani Nayagam |publisher=Tamil Literature Society, Academy of Tamil Culture |date=1966 |series=Tamil (Indic people) |volume=12 |pages=208, 209 |language=en, ta}}</ref> Many major Tamil classical literary masterpieces written during [[Sangam period]] have mentioned the yazh. ''[[Silappatikaram]]'', written by a Tamil Chera prince [[Ilango Adigal]], mentions four kinds of yazhs:<ref name="yazh">{{cite book |last=Rangarajan |first=Haripriya |title=Jainism: art, architecture, literature & philosophy |editor1=Haripriya Rangarajan |editor2=G. Kamalakar |editor3=A. K. V. S. Reddy |editor4=M. Veerender |editor5=K. Venkatachalam |publisher=Sharada Publishing House |date=2001 |series=Religion / Jainism |page=142 |isbn=9788185616773 |language=en, ta}}</ref>

*''Peri yazh'' – 21 strings — large yazh
*''Makara yazh'' – 19 strings — [[makara]] yazh
*''Cakota yazh'' – 14 strings
*''Cenkotti yazh'' – 7 strings

''Other types of yazh are:
* ''Mayil Yazh'' – ''“resembling a peacock”''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chennaimuseum.org/draft/gallery/02/01/musinst2.htm |title=Musical Instruments |page=2 |publisher=Government Museum, Chennai, India |access-date=16 November 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927234750/http://www.chennaimuseum.org/draft/gallery/02/01/musinst2.htm |archive-date=27 September 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
* ''Vil Yazh'' – ''"shaped like a bow''"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chennaimuseum.org/draft/gallery/02/01/musinst3.htm |title=Musical Instruments |page=3 |publisher=Government Museum, Chennai, India |access-date=16 November 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927234851/http://www.chennaimuseum.org/draft/gallery/02/01/musinst3.htm |archive-date=27 September 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
The Tamil book [[Perumpāṇāṟṟuppaṭai]] says the strings of a yazh should not have any twists in them. Other Tamil literature which have mentions on yazh are [[Seevaga Sindhamani]] and [[Periya Puranam]].<ref>{{cite news |title=On the basics of conservation |url=http://www.hindu.com/fr/2009/12/04/stories/2009120450960100.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130125072123/http://www.hindu.com/fr/2009/12/04/stories/2009120450960100.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 January 2013 |date=4 December 2009 |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |location=India}}</ref> In modern times [[Swami Vipulananda]] has written a book of scientific research in Tamil called the ''[[Yazh Nool]]'', detailing 6 different yazh harps.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://tamilnation.co/hundredtamils/vipulananda.htm |title=One hundred Tamils of the 20th century: Swami Vipulananda (1892–1947)}}</ref>

There is a city named for the yazh in the story of its founding, [[Jaffna]], known in Tamil as ''Yazhpanam''. A [[Sri Lankan Tamils|Sri Lankan Tamil]] legend recounts that a blind man ''Panan'' played on the Yazh so beautiful that he was given land from a king, which he named after himself, literally meaning ''"town of harper"''.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VSUeAAAAIAAJ |title=Ceylon Sessional Papers |last=Pārlimēntuva |first=Ceylon |date=1957-01-01 |publisher=Government Press |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S4_domy-aYsC&q=yalpanam&pg=PA4 |title=A Hand Book to the Jaffna Peninsula and a Souvenir of the Opening of the Railway to the North |last = Katiresu |first = Subramanier| date = 2004-01-01 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |isbn=9788120618725 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k9DpMY206bMC |title=Ancient Jaffna: Being a Research into the History of Jaffna from Very Early Times to the Portuguese Period |last1=Rasanayagam |first1=C. |last2=Rasanayagam |first2=Mudaliyar C. |date=1993-01-01 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |isbn=9788120602106 |language=en}}</ref>

Not only seen in literature, Yazh are found in sculptures in the [[Darasuram]] and [[Thirumayam]] temples in Tamil Nadu and also in [[Amaravathi village, Guntur district]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Recreating treasures of the past |url=http://www.hindu.com/ms/2007/12/26/stories/2007122650010100.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821054545/http://www.hindu.com/ms/2007/12/26/stories/2007122650010100.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=21 August 2008 |date=26 December 2007 |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |location=India}}</ref>

The yazh was played in ''[[Meenakshi Temple|Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple]]'' in early centuries. It was mentioned in ''[[Shaiva Thirumurai|ShaivaThirumurai]]'' 11th Pathigam. It was also played by the musician and poet ''Panapathirar'' ''({{lang-ta|பாணபத்திரர்}})'' who is mentioned in religious devotional stories.

''மதிமலி புரிசை மாடக் கூடற்
பதிமிசை நிலவு பால்நிற வரிச்சிற
கன்னம் பயில்பொழில் ஆல வாயில்
மன்னிய சிவன்யான் மொழிதரு மாற்றம்

பருவக் கொண்மூப் படியெனப் பாவலர்க்
குரிமையின் உரிமையின் உதவி ஒளிதிகழ்
குருமா மதிபுரை குலவிய குடைக்கீழ்ச்
செருமா உகைக்குஞ் சேரலன் காண்க
பண்பா லியாழ்பயில் பாண பத்திரன்

தன்போல் என்பால் அன்பன் தன்பால்
காண்பது கருதிப் போந்தனன்
மாண்பொருள் கொடுத்து வரவிடுப் பதுவே''

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Yaaz.jpg|Modern recreations of the yazh/yal
File:Makarayazh woman.jpg|Modern illustration of Makara yal (Tamil: மகரயாழ்).
File:யாழ் மீட்டும் பெண்.png|Woman playing a yal.
File:Virkodi Yazh.jpg|''Virkodi yazh'' or ''vil yazh''. A music theory proposes that a hunters bow was inspiration for the first stringed instruments in India. This is from [[Tamil Nadu]].
</gallery>

==External links ==
*[https://www.thehindu.com/society/a-veena-shaped-like-a-tortoise-vies-with-one-shaped-like-a-peacock-in-this-pune-museum/article24592527.ece/amp/ News article with prominent photo of Makara yazh]
*[http://www.dailynews.lk/2017/06/21/features/119512/how-jaffna-got-name-yarlpanam Brief history of Jaffna and the yazh, Daily News, Sri Lankha]
*[https://www.joinpaperplanes.com/design-and-living/redesigning-the-yazh-ancient-string-instrument/ News story on re-creating yazh]
*[https://www.dtnext.in/News/TopNews/2020/10/15003020/1256576/City-architect-redesigns-forgotten-musical-instruments.vpf Photo and news clip of modern re-created yazh]

==References==
{{Portal|India|Music}}
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Indian musical instruments}}

[[Category:Indian musical instruments]]
[[Category:Harps]]
[[Category:Carnatic music]]
[[Category:Tamil music]]

Yazh - Revision history

KirkEvd85074933: brief refine formatting to improve readability also and improved wording

CleanupBot II: Removed empty portal template using script

134.195.198.252 at 16:13, 12 July 2021