Kerala Music

Close your eyes and imagine this: the oil lamps are lit, the air carries a thread of sandalwood, and from the stone steps of an ancient Kerala temple, a lone voice rises — unhurried, unadorned, deeply devotional. No concert hall, no microphone, no applause. Just a singer, a small hourglass drum, and the gods listening from behind the sanctum door. That is Sopana Sangeetham — and it may be the most intimate music tradition in all of India.

While the world debates Carnatic versus Hindustani, Kerala quietly holds on to a musical form that predates both in spirit, rooted not in performance but in offering. Sopana Sangeetham was never meant to entertain. It was meant to reach the divine.

A Song Born on Sacred Steps

The name itself tells the story. Sopanam means steps — specifically, the stone steps leading to the inner sanctum (garbhagriha) of a Kerala Hindu temple. Sangeetham is music. So Sopana Sangeetham is, literally, music of the holy steps. The singer traditionally stood at the side of the sopanam and sang hymns as an offering during temple rituals — a practice called Kottippaadi Seva (drumming and singing as devotional service).

Its roots stretch back to Kerala's earliest temple culture, woven from Dravidian folk music, Vedic chant, and tribal devotional song. The form took a major turn when Jayadeva's Gita Govinda — the 12th-century Sanskrit poem celebrating the divine love of Radha and Krishna — reached Kerala. Its Ashtapadis (eight-verse compositions) became the bedrock of Sopanam performance and remain central to it even today.

From those temple steps, the music journeyed outward — into Ashtapadiyattam, then Krishnanattam, then Ramanattam, and eventually into Kathakali, Kerala's grand dance-drama form. Sopana Sangeetham became the sonic soul of all these art forms, even as it kept its roots firmly in the temple. The language shifted from pure Sanskrit into Manipravalam — a lyrical blend of Malayalam and Sanskrit — giving the music a distinctly Keralite identity.

Two regional schools developed over centuries — the Thekkan (southern) style and the Vadakkan (northern) style. Sadly, the southern style has largely faded; the northern style, centred around temples like Guruvayoor and Thirumandhamkunnu, survives and thrives.

Voices That Carried the Tradition

Sopana Sangeetham has always been a hereditary art, passed from father to son within the Marar and Pothuval communities — the Ambalavasi families entrusted with temple music across Kerala. Learning happened not in classrooms but in temple corridors, through years of listening and imitation.

Njeralattu Rama Poduval stands as the towering figure of the modern Sopana tradition. A master of the Thirumandhamkunnu bani (school), his renditions were legendary for their meditative depth and melodic purity. His legacy lives on through his son, Njeralathu Harigovindan, who — in a striking story — gave up his career as a college lecturer to dedicate his life entirely to Sopana Sangeetham. Harigovindan has done much to bring the tradition to wider audiences.

Janardhanan Nedungadi of Guruvayoor and Damodara Marar from the Mudiyettu tradition of Pazhoor are also regarded as authentic masters of the form. In Kathakali music specifically, Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair was among the most revered vocalists, bringing Sopana-style singing to its highest theatrical expression.

Today, artists like Ambalapuzha Vijayakumar and Eloor Biju are considered leading voices of the present generation, keeping the tradition alive in the belt between Ernakulam and Kozhikode — its most fertile ground. Even more remarkable: Girija Balakrishnan of Anamangad is a rare female practitioner of Sopana Sangeetham who plays her own idakka — a near-unheard-of combination in this traditionally male-dominated art.

Did You Know?

• The idakka — the small hourglass-shaped drum used in Sopana Sangeetham — is shaped like Lord Shiva's damaru and is considered a Devavadyam (divine instrument). Unlike most drums, it can produce melodic pitches by squeezing the lacing in the middle, making it both a percussion and a melodic instrument in the hands of a skilled player.

• Sopana Sangeetham has its own system of Samaya ragas — ragas assigned to specific times of day and night, aligning musical performance with the rhythm of temple puja. The singer chooses ragas based on the hour, not personal preference.

• A Sopana musician is, by tradition, both the singer and the drummer — performing both roles simultaneously. This is why the practice is called Kottippaadi Seva: kotti (playing the drum) + paadi (singing) + seva (offering).

Where to Begin Listening

If you have never heard Sopana Sangeetham, nothing I write will prepare you adequately. Here are five specific starting points, each offering a different facet of this tradition:

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  Njeralathu Harigovindan — Ashtapadi RenditionsSearch YouTube for Harigovindan's Gita Govinda Ashtapadi performances — raw, unhurried, accompanied only by idakka. Start here for the purest temple-style experience.

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  "Vande Mukunda Hare" — rendered by M.G. RadhakrishnanThe iconic Sopana-style song, forever associated with Oduvil Unnikrishnan's performance in the Malayalam classic. Search YouTube: Vande Mukunda Hare Oduvil Unnikrishnan.

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  Kathakali Padams — Kalamandalam Krishnan NairFor Sopana Sangeetham in its Kathakali application, Krishnan Nair's recordings are a masterclass. Available on YouTube and several Kerala classical music archives.

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  Ambalapuzha Vijayakumar — Concert RecordingsA bridge between tradition and contemporary audiences. His recordings offer Sopana Sangeetham in a slightly more accessible concert format. Search his name on YouTube.

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  Kavalam Narayana Panicker — Sopanam Style for MohiniyattamThe legendary poet-playwright introduced Sopana Sangeetham to Mohiniyattam, creating a whole new repertoire. Recordings of his compositions offer a creative bridge between Sopanam and classical dance. Search: Kavalam Sopanam Mohiniyattam.