Yazh or Yal is one of the most ancient musical instruments
in ancient India. Yal is a string music instrument and was mainly used in ancient
Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka.. It was used as a primary instrument and also as an
accompaniment to vocal music. When the fretted vina emerged, yal slowly receded
into the background.
Vina denotes stringed instruments in general in Sanskrit,
and yal is its Tamil equivalent.
In Silappadikaram, the chapter Arangetra Kathai mentions the rules
to be followed while playing yal.
Musicians who played yal were known as yalpanar and the
place where they lived came be known as Yalpanam.
Yal and Prehistoric creature Yali
The figure of pre-historic yali, a weird creature, is seen
in the temple sculptures. In the temples of Thirumeyyam (near Pudukkottai),
Amaravati and Khajuraho, sculptures of the instrument yal are seen. Some
scholars even hold that yali and yal are related and the yali precedes yal.
Yazh Music Instrument
Yal was plucked by tuning to a particular scale. Other scales
were played on it by the shift of the tonic note or by re-tuning the particular
strings. Thus yal may be said to be the precursor of the later eka raga mela
vina.
Yal had many limitations. Only straight notes could be
played and gamakas or quarter notes could not be played on this instrument.
Further, it took a long time to tune the instrument. Thus the fretted vina
emerged, free of the above limitations, enabling any raga to be played with
ease and without loss of time involved in tuning. With the emergence of the
concept of adhara sadja, the playing of the new scales by the shift of the
tonic note became an anachronism and a thing of the past.
Yal Musical Instrument In Ancient Texts
Another Shaiva apostle, Appar (7th century AD),
also refers to vina in his hymn Masil Vinaiym.
Thiruneelakandar Yalpanar provided the yal accompaniment to
the sacred hymns of Thirugnanasambandar.
In the later period, Vipulananthar wrote Yalnul as a
commentary on the twenty fiver verses of Arangetra Kathai. The second chapter of
Yalnul, titled Yalupiyal, lists the varieties of yal, citing quotations from
Sangam literature. Particularly, Villyal was recreated by Vipulananthar. This chapter
also gives details of other varieties lie periyal, siriyal, makarayal,
sagodayal, and senkoriyal.
Makaravina, Naradavina and Muhavina as mentioned in Sanskrit
texts, correspond to Mahayali, Naradayal and adi kalattu periyal, respectively
in Tamil.
16 types of Yal
- Adiyal – A 1000 stringed yal used for chasing away animals and demons in forests.
- Naradaperiyal – a 100 stringed yal, in the shape of a triangle, had strings that produced Mandra, Madhya and Tara Sthayi (3-octave ranges).
- Adi Kalattu Periya – A 100-stringed instrument.
- Periyal – A 21-stringed instrument.
- Siriyal – A stringed instrument with seven or nine strings. It is stated that the instrumentalist playing periyal was known as Panar and that his wife played siriyal.
- Makara Yal – A 17-stringed instrument.
- Sakoda Yal – A 16-stringed instrument.
- Sengoti Yal – A 7-stringed instrument, corresponding to the present day vina with four main strings and three strings for tala.
- Tumuru Yal – A 9-stringed instrument.
- Kichaka Yal – A 100-stringed yal
- Maruthuva Yal – Also called deva yal, this was a single stringed instrument capable of presenting 62 types of notes.
- Kurinji Yal, Palai Yal, Maruda Yal and Mullai Yal – These correspond to the four regions of ancient Tamil landscape.
- Vallaki Yal – It is said that Brihaspati (Guru Navagraha) used to play on this type of yal.
- Killai Yal – This instrument had a face like that of a parrot.
- Vill Yal – It has the shape of a bow (vill) with sixteen strings on either side.
- Mayil Yal – It is shaped like a peacock with 32 strings.
Source -
- Musical Instruments Of India - Their History And Development (2000) written by Chaitanya Deva - Munshiram Manoharlal Publications New Delhi
- Encyclopedia of Hinduism Volume XI page 596 - 97