Even though it is known as a temple town and once was a hub of Carnatic music, many of the temples in Kumbokonam do not have nagaswaram and thavil players in their employ. Even in temples where the instruments are played, the artistes are employed only on consolidated pay.
“In the Kumbeswarar temple, there is a nagaswaram player and he is paid ₹6,000 per month. The artiste in Nageswarankoil gets ₹7,250. The salary is just ₹3,000 for the nagaswaram player in the Sundareswarar temple in Karupur,” said Saravanan, president of the Kumbakonam Isai Vellalar Sangam. He said there was no nagaswaram or thavil player in the famous Sarangapani temple. The Sakkarapani temple has a nagaswaram player who gets ₹7,000 per month.
Mr. Saravanan has prepared a list of 16 temples, and only four of them have nagaswaram and thavil players in their employ. “Other temples have mechanised musical instruments playing when poojas are performed,” he explained.
However, a senior official of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department said the government was ready to appoint them, but it had become difficult to find artistes who were ready to work in the temple. “We are running nagaswaram schools in Thirunageswaram and Pazhani and are planning to open another school in Tiruttani. But very few students are enrolling even though we pay them a stipend of ₹3,000 per month,” the official said.
Mr. Saravanan argued that artistes were not showing an interest in taking up these temple jobs because the salary was very low. “If you are in the service of a temple, you have to be there in the morning and evening. If they perform outside, they earn more money,” he pointed out.
The HR&CE official, however, said there was no ban on artistes of HR&CE temples performing outside. “In a lot of temples, artistes perform outside by arranging someone to play in their absence. Let them apply to us, we will appoint them,” the official said.
