Photo Credits: Ramesh Kidangoor

Panchavadyam is an orchestra made up of five instruments, primarily percussion but one wind instrument – chenda, kombu, kuzhal, elathalam and maddalam. Kerala temple festivals are the ideal occasion to witness its entire range of traditional musical expertise. Originally this was the music that accompanied temple processions where caparisoned elephants carried the idol. A panchavadyam performance takes hours, with a pyramid-like rhythmic structure in which the instruments go through five musical stages, or peaks.