Keli

Keli is a ritualistic south India

South India

South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...

n percussion concert involving two Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

 drums called the chenda

Chenda

The Chenda is a cylindrical percussion instrument used widely in the state of Kerala, and Tulu Nadu of Karnataka State in India. In Tulu Nadu it is known as Chande....

 and the maddalam besides the ethnic cymbal known as ilathalam and chengila (gong), which typically lasts for some 20 minutes got a pyramid structure. It is usually staged in the night in temple precincts ahead of bigger rhythmic ensembles like panchari melam

Panchari melam

Panchari Melam is a percussion ensemble, canonically lasting more than four hours, performed during temple festivals in Kerala, India. Panchari Melam , is one of the major forms of chenda melam , and is the best-known and most popular kshetram vadyam genre...

 and pandi melam

Pandi Melam

Pandi melam is a classical percussion concert or melam led by the ethnic Kerala instrument called the chenda and accompanied by ilathalam , kuzhal and Kombu....

. It is also performed ahead of a Kathakali

Kathakali

Kathakali is a highly stylized classical Indian dance-drama noted for the attractive make-up of characters, elaborate costumes, detailed gestures and well-defined body movements presented in tune with the anchor playback music and complementary percussion...

 show, effectively as an announcement.

Maddala Keli or Maddalapattu

This involves no chenda, but a set of maddalam drums as the main instrument, with support from a row of ilathalam. If a Keli has five maddalam artistes, it is called Panchamaddalakeli; while if it is ten it is called Dashamaddalakeli. It sticks mainly to the eight-beat rhythmic cycle called Chembada (or adi talam in Carnatic music

Carnatic music

Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...

). It has also a segment called 'Kooru', where rhythmic cycles can be the six-beat panchari (pancharikkooru), the 14-beat adantha (adantha-kkooru) and the ten-beat chamba (chambakkooru). Scholars say the ensemble of thayambaka

Thayambaka

Thayambaka or tayambaka is a type of solo chenda performance that developed in the south Indian state of Kerala, in which the main player at the centre improvises rhythmically on the beats of half-a-dozen or a few more chenda and ilathalam players around.A thayambaka performance on the chenda has...

 developed from maddala keli.

See also

• Pandi Melam
  Pandi Melam
  Pandi melam is a classical percussion concert or melam led by the ethnic Kerala instrument called the chenda and accompanied by ilathalam , kuzhal and Kombu....
  
  
• Panchari melam
  Panchari melam
  Panchari Melam is a percussion ensemble, canonically lasting more than four hours, performed during temple festivals in Kerala, India. Panchari Melam , is one of the major forms of chenda melam , and is the best-known and most popular kshetram vadyam genre...
  
  
• Thayambaka
  Thayambaka
  Thayambaka or tayambaka is a type of solo chenda performance that developed in the south Indian state of Kerala, in which the main player at the centre improvises rhythmically on the beats of half-a-dozen or a few more chenda and ilathalam players around.A thayambaka performance on the chenda has...
  
  
• Panchavadyam
  Panchavadyam
  Panchavadyam, literally meaning an orchestra of five instruments, is basically a temple art form that has evolved in Kerala. Of the five instruments, four -- timila, maddalam, ilathalam and idakka -- belong to the percussion category, while the fifth one, kombu, is a wind instrument.Much like any...
  
  
• Maddalam
• Kathakali
  Kathakali
  Kathakali is a highly stylized classical Indian dance-drama noted for the attractive make-up of characters, elaborate costumes, detailed gestures and well-defined body movements presented in tune with the anchor playback music and complementary percussion...
  
  
• Chenda
  Chenda
  The Chenda is a cylindrical percussion instrument used widely in the state of Kerala, and Tulu Nadu of Karnataka State in India. In Tulu Nadu it is known as Chande....