Terms used in South Asia for a waterpot; the Sanskrit ghata, the South Indian form ghatam and the modern North Indian derivative gharā signify a pot, usually of terracotta, spherical, with a wide belly and narrow mouth. They occur widely in various musical contexts. The modern northern and southern terms denote primarily struck pots (percussion vessels or idiophones), but the historical usage (in addition to other names) may also apply to skin-covered pots, pot-drums or membranophones.
These, sometimes made of a special sonorous clay, are widely used in various musical contexts. They are struck with the fingers on belly, neck and mouth and are sometimes played with drums.
In modern times the northern gharā is common, though it is sometimes known by other names such as mātki (Rajasthan), nūt (Kashmir) and dilo (Sind). The gagrī (gagrā) is similar, but is made of metal.
The ghatam of South India is used in several contexts, including the Karnatak music, for which special pots are made at Panruti and Manamadura. The pot is placed on the seated player’s lap and its mouth is sometimes pressed against the abdomen to vary the resonance. It is played at the mouth, belly and bottom with hands, wrists, fingertips and nails. It is said that the ghatam was sometimes thrown in the air to shatter on the ground on the last beat.
The waterpot also provides a natural resonator on which to stretch a skin. Although the term ghata and its modern derivatives usually denote percussion vessels, the ghata briefly described in the 13th-century Sangītaratnākara is a pot-drum. Pot-drums have a persistent history in the subcontinent, perhaps reflecting their easy availability at every level.
Pot-drums may be grouped in several classes: whole-pot drums, half-pot or goblet drums and bowl-drums. The skin of a whole-pot drum may cover a wide or narrow mouth, with either a short neck as in the Tamil milāvu with its strong tradition in temple and dramatic music, the southern kudamula and the very large, five-necked pañcamukhavādyam) or a long neck, like the ghumera or gumra of Orissa. They may have an opening at the bottom of the pot. The long-necked pot-drums occur more often in reversed form as goblet or half-pot drums, with the skin covering the base of the pot’s wide belly, which is partly cut away (or moulded in that form). The open mouth at the neck can be covered or partly covered by the hand to manipulate resonance. Long-necked pot drums include the ghumat of Goa and Maharashtra, the gummati and the burra of Andhra and the tumbaknārī of Kashmir (related directly to the Persian tombak or zarb). The ghumat is interesting for its construction: the upper side has the thick rim of the short-necked pot, round which the skin is tied, and at the lower side is an open neck or stem of the long-necked type. In the bowl-type pot-drum (such as the pābūjī ke māte of Rajasthan) the mouth is appreciably wide relative to the overall width (see illustration).
P. Sambamoorthy: Catalogue of Musical Instruments Exhibited in the Government Museum, Madras (Madras, 3/1962)
B.C. Deva: Musical Instruments of India (Calcutta, 1978)
ALASTAIR DICK/R