Instruments
Carnatic instruments
The eleven principal instruments of a modern Carnatic concert — voice at the centre, melodic accompaniment, percussion, drone, and the temple wind tradition. Every exponent listed has confirmed dates from the standard published references.
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The four-fold classification is old Indian organology — it appears in Bharata's Nāṭya Śāstra and in Dattilam before the Vādyādhyāya applies it. Saṅgīta Ratnakara's sixth chapter classifies instruments this way; it did not invent the scheme.
The voice is not listed under a family. It is not a vādya — it is the medium the instruments accompany, and the tradition does not classify it in this scheme.
Mṛdaṅgam
3 exponentsalso: mardala · mridanga
Membrane percussionPrimary percussionAvanaddhaDouble-headed barrel drum, single-piece jackfruit-wood body. Right head (toppi / valantarai) tuned high and tempered with a permanent black patch (karaṇai) of rice paste and iron filings. Left head (eḍumtarai) tuned lower, conditioned before each performance with a wheat-flour paste that is removed when playing ends.
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Kañjirā
2 exponentsalso: kanjira · ganjira
Membrane percussionSecondary percussionAvanaddhaSmall frame drum, ~17 cm in diameter, jackfruit-wood frame with a single skin head and three or four small jingles. Players moisten the skin during play to dynamically retune.
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Tavil
1 exponentalso: tavul
Membrane percussionTemple / ceremonialAvanaddhaCylindrical wooden barrel drum, ~32 cm long. Right head played with the bare hand (with finger thimbles for sharp attack); left head played with a short stick. The instrument is strapped across the player's chest while standing.
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Parai
also: thappattai · thappu
Membrane percussionTemple / ceremonialAvanaddhaA traditional Tamil frame drum about 35 cm in diameter, consisting of a shallow ring of neem wood covered on one side with stretched cow hide glued to the wooden frame. Played entirely with two sticks — the Adi Kuchi (short thick stick, center crack) and Sundu Kuchi (long flat bamboo, slap). Heated over a fire before performance to tighten the hide and raise the pitch.
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The Carnatic violin uses the same physical instrument as the European one but holds it differently and tunes it Sa-Pa-Sa-Pa — Bāluswāmi Dīkṣitar, the brother of Muttuswāmi (see Composers · Dīkṣitar), introduced the adaptation in the early 19th century.