This folk drum is an essential accompaniment for tribal dances. The Santals call it Tumdak or Tumdah. About 60 cm in length and slightly conical in shape, the wider end having a diameter of about 30 cm, the hollow body is made from burnt clay.
To reinforce the clay surface, strips of leather, cloth, cane or even plastic (nowadays) are wrapped tightly around the body, covering the entire clay surface. The two open ends of unequal diameter are covered with animal hide, attached to a strong leather ring mounted on each rim of the drum. The two surfaces are kept taut with the help of narrow strips of leather tightly laced vertically across the body, connecting the two leather rings.
This folk drum is an essential accompaniment for tribal dances. The Santals call it Tumdak or Tumdah. About 60 cm in length and slightly conical in shape, the wider end having a diameter of about 30 cm, the hollow body is made from burnt clay.
The hollow cylindrical terracotta forms are procured from potters by the drum maker and the process of reinforcing the clay surface then begins. It is first coated with locally available white soil (khori mati) and then it is pasted with strips of old cloth. A second coat of khori mati follows and then strips of coloured leather or cane (or sometimes plastic) are tightly and wrapped around the whole surface.
The two open ends of unequal diameter are covered with animal hide, attached to a strong leather ring mountedon each rim of the drum. The two surfaces are kept taut with the help of narrow strips of leather tightly laced vertically across the body, connecting the two leather rings.
The surface of the left head is coated with a paste of finely ground white stones kneaded with boiled rice soaked in water. After several applications, the final layer is smoothed down with a little water. The right head is coated with a mixture of powdered stones (not white), boiled rice and lamp black.
Th
e smaller right side produces a high pitched sound while the larger left side makes a deep bass sound. The resonance is accentuated or lowered by treating the face with a black circle of tuning paste made up of rice paste, glue, and iron filings. The santal Tumdak is of three different sizes. Played with both hands, the player suspends the drum around his neck with a cord or leather strap.
In an earlier time, the tumdak and the tamak, a Santal kettle drum that is always played in tandem with the tumdak, were both manufactured by the Santals themselves. However, it is the members of the leather working clan, usually the Ruidas community, who have been making these instruments for the Santals for many decades. Tumdaks are always sold in pairs and are always played in accompaniment with the
Tamak.
The Tumdak (and Tamak) are essential for both ritual and social purposes. The Santals believe that the drum beats regulate the laws of the universe. During a Santal wedding, a Tumdak and Tamak are gifted to the groom`s father by the bride`s father as a symbolic gesture.