Musical Heritage of South India – Indian music is probably one of the most complex and elaborate kinds of music in the world in terms of its melodic and rhythmic structures. For centuries, this music was transmitted by oral tradition from the guru to his disciple (shishya). The oral tradition was one of the only ways to transmit the intricacies of this art, which often cannot be written down. The ancient Veda appears to be at the origin of Indian music. The first of these four “Books of knowledge”, the Rig-Veda, dating back to around 4000 years ago, was sung on one note. Later two more notes the udatta, the higher note and the anudatta, a lower note were added in order to emphasize certain words in the text. In the Yajur-Veda two more notes were added and in the Sama-Veda three more notes giving a total of eight notes or octave. The history of Indian music like that of dance can be divided into three parts: the ancient period (400 B.C to 400 A.D) the medieval period (from the 5th to the 15th centuries) and the modern period (from the 15th centuries onwards). During the ancient period the tradition of art music was basically the same with in the whole Indian sub-continent. During the medieval period, around the 12th century the Mogul invasions changed both the social and political hierarchies in India. One of the major changes was the division between the music in North and South India, namely Hindustani and Carnatic music. Both these systems of music rely on the raga or melody (literally:” coloration” of the mind) and the Tala time measure (literally: “palm of the hand”). Musical Instruments in Bharatanatyam – The nattuvangam* is a pair of cymbals that keeps the rhythm (tala) of pieces of Bharatanatyam.The largest is made of iron and the smaller of panacaloka, or an alloy of five metals, which is sacred to Indians. The tambura is a four-string instrument, which provides the background drone, the essential basic sound over which the musicians and vocalists perform. It is formed from a hollowed out jack fruit gourd that provides the resonance chamber and has a long neck. The mridangam is a barrel shaped drum made from a single piece of wood whose two ends are covered by cow skin stretched by leather ties, which are made from buffalo hide. The tuning of the mridangam is done with a wooden stick and a stone that are used to hammer into place the cylinders, which are fixed beneath the leather ties.