Kovalam: An English woman surprised devotees at Avaduthura Thiruvila Devi Temple, by joining the team of chenda players during the temple festival.
The woman named Tuesday, who had visited the temple two years ago, happened to watch the ritual of ‘Kalam Kaval’ held at the temple. Fascinated by the steps of the ritual and the percussion accompaniment led by chenda, she started learning the percussion, beginning with elathalam, the cymbals.
After returning to England, she continued learning the percussion after meeting the Malayali community over there and joining the chenda classes run by them. Returning to Kovalam again, she met a local chenda artiste, Saju, and started training under him. She plans to continue her training.
