Gopis playing mridanga - Does it strike anyone puzzling that...

I was talking with a devotee friend and fellow bengali kirtan fiend recently. Generally we are in agreement that the mridang as it is played in bengali nam jagya kirtan is a very male and testosterone laden instrument. She then read from Gadadhar Pran's summary of the Govinda Lilamrit where the Gopis play the mridang in the rasa lila which detailed all the mridang rythms they played. While it was very beautiful it struck us as strange that the gopis were playing such a male instrument. Does anyone else find this puzzling?

oh no, I think it is wonderful! The mrdanga is a very passionate instrument. While filled with such love for Krishna, it seems totally fitting that the gopis should play mrdangam... my opinion.

That which you refer to as mrdanga is actually called khol and the mrdanga is another kind of two-ended drum. But I never heard that it was unbecoming of ladies to play any musical instrument.

Mrdangam in South India is made of jackfruit wood. It is cylindrical. However it would seem that the original Mrd Anga (clay body) drum is something Kohl like if not the Kohl itself. The name betrays it's clay origins. I do not see a problem having women play the mrdangam or khol. In South India it is traditional for only male Sudras to play the larger drums like the Tavil (played with Nadesvaram, a Shenai like instrument). However there is one Brahmin player that I know of. So traditionally there may be a preference for certain instruments to be played by certain genders or castes but in itself I don't think that it really matters, especially in a lila situation where there are ONLY women available to play the instruments.

I've seen one picture with gopi. One of them is playing mridanga. By the way gopi do everything what can be please to Radha-Krsna and if their play mridanga can be pleasing they will play.

Naturally you'd find that in ISKCON art, as they tend to be a bit culturally isolated.

Traditionally, you'll find the mridangas painted more in the shape of a cylinder, rather than the Bengali "fat-in-the-middle" khol-like instrument.

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I'm sure it's not just a south Indian thing. Once I had a CD called Rythems if India, on it there were samples of many drums, with their names and brief histories. In Navadvipa the more informed call it Sri Khol and I think calling it Mrdanga is a mistake that's been allowed. Granted the name Mrdanga in referance to it being made of clay casts doubt on my proposition I admit.

I am more familiar with Carnatic music so I tend to see the gopis with a kind of "south indian flair" Thus, although the gopis are in Vrindavana, I sometimes see one with a mrdangam, one w/ cymbals doing nattuvangam, another dancing kuchipudi... hehe