Lake Isle Retreats Shopping Recommendations

Ahimsa Mridangas from India

Ahimsa Mridangas is a new company based in Mayapur, West Bengal, India. They make a traditional percussion instrument using the leather of cows who have died a natural death, as opposed to leather purchased from slaughterhouses.

The Mridanga Drum

[Alternate spellings include "mrdanga", "mrudangam", "mrdangam", "mrithangam", "miruthangam", and "mirudhangam"]

In the ancient Vedic texts of India, the mridangam is often depicted as the instrument of choice for a number of deities including Ganesh (the remover of obstacles) and Nandi, the associate of Lord Shiva. Nandi is said to have played the mridangam during Shiva's arcane Tandava dance, causing a divine rhythm to resound across the heavens. The miruthangam is thus also known as "Deva Vaadyam," or "Instrument of the Gods."

The word "mridangam" is derived from the two Sanskrit words "Mrid" (clay or earth) and "Ang" (body). Today they are made of a variety of different materials in addition to clay, such as brass, fibreglass and wood. Most mridangas (apart from the fibreglass types) are bound with leather straps. 

Ahimsa Mrdangas

Although traditionally the leather for these drums was obtained from cows and bulls who had died their natural deaths, in recent decades this tradition had been increasingly abandoned. Now with Ahimsa Mrdangas, you have the ahimsa choice made by dedicated and skilled craftsmen.

To order, email: ahimsa_mrdangas@hotmail.com

Price: 2500 Indian Rupees