City of Armadale - History House > Records

DRUM - PARAI TAMIL

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2022

Overview

Round hand held drum, circular wood frame with a cow leather skin over one side of the drum. Skin moulded over sides and nailed and glued into place. On inside of the drum frame are four metal plates nailed into place. On the side a black leather strap has been looped and attached with a metal bolt. On one of the metal plates a [11] has been written in brown marker. Next to the plate on the wood in red marker is a [M]

Historical information

This traditional Tamil parai drum was acquired by the Valluvan Tamil School in Harrisdale to teach students the art of drumming. Parai, which means 'to speak' or 'to tell' in Tamil was traditionally used to pass messages over distance. Over time the use of the drum evolved and has become an important part of Tamil culture. it is often played at festivals, weddings, temple ceremonies and as accompanying music to demonstrations of traditional Tamil martial arts.
Tamil culture has spread out from what is today Tamil Nadu, a state in Southern India. There they speak Tamil which is a classical Dravidian language. The Tamil culture has spread primarily to Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Mauritius and Singapore. Since the early 2000's a Tamil community has been steadily growing in the City of Armadale. The Valluvan Tamil School, run by volunteers, was opened 9 February 2020 at the Harrisdale Senior high School with the support of the Office of Multicultural Issues. The school teaches the Tamil language, culture and philosophy. One of the classes they run is how to play the parai drum.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-33-COA2022.4a

Item type

Material

Keywords

Harrisdale Senior High School

Harrisdale

Tamil Nadu, India

India

Valluvan Tamil School

Year

2022

Statement of significance

This collection of objects is associated with the experiences of families and individuals who migrated to Australia in the 1900s and settled in the City of Armadale. The collection represents the challenges they faced in starting a new home in the City, reasons why they chose to come to Australia and the successes they achieved. The collection also tells the story of the important impact migrant families and individuals have had on the cultural, economic and social history of the City of Armadale and how they and their descendants became an important part of the local community.

City of Armadale - History House

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