Page:The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago.djvu/146

Rh ed seated, threw up the balls first one at a time, then two, then three and so on up to seven at a time and caught them either on the palm or on the back of the hand. In the game of Panthu, balls of the size of a lime fruit were used, and the players struck the balls with their hands running forwards and backwards or wheeling round, according to the motion of the balls.

The science and practice of the fine arts were highly developed amongst the ancient Tamils. The study of music was an essential part of a liberal education and the Tamils excelled in soft melodies which had a gentle and soothing effect. The gamut consisted of seven notes which were named, Tharam, Ulai, Kural, Ili, Thutham, Vilari and Kaikkilai. The principal tunes or airs were four in number :— Palai, Kurinji, Marutham and Chevvali —and each tune had many variations, making in all 103 distinct tunes which were recognized in the musical treatises of the period. The different parts in music, bass, tenor and treble were also understood, ; they were not however sung together but one after another in succession. A great variety of wind instruments were in use. Chank shells which gave a deep swelling sound were used in temples and in marriage and funeral processions. The flute which had eight holes in it was capable of considerable modulation. Single and double faced drums and pipes of various kinds, accompanied the lute in every musical concert. There were four kinds of lutes. The smallest in size and one most commonly used had seven wires : the other kinds had fourteen, seventeen and twenty-one wires each. While being played, the lute was held, in the left hand, four fingers of which rested on the screw pins and the ‘wires were sounded with one or the other of the fingers of the right hand, excepting the thumb. Tamil and Aryan systems of music are alluded to, showing thereby that the two systems were dis-