Porombokkiyal honours Tamil Nadu’s living knowledge

CHENNAI: Chennai Kalai Theru Vizha will be presenting an event called Porombokkiyal, featuring experts and knowledge-makers from diverse communities across Tamil Nadu.

The event challenges the notion that expertise and science are created and reside only in academic institutions. It will be held on September 28, from 10 am to 6 pm at The Learning Community at Quest, Besant Nagar. The third edition of this symposium will present four sessions featuring mridangam makers, Irula forest gatherers, toddy tappers, and women fishworkers.

The event culminates with 'Once There Was a River', a play co-produced and performed by the Arunodaya Children's Sangam. Written from the perspective of children from North Chennai, the play exposes the predatory urban growth that sacrifices places like Ennore, Manali, and Thiruvottiyur and reimagines a city rooted not in exploitation but in compassion, built for thriving rather than accumulation.

The event will feature D. Pandian and Pa. Harris Karishma on tapping the tree of plenty, the Palmyra palm; S. Saratha and V. Thangamani, women fishworkers, on karuvaadu (salt fish) making, women’s labour and the importance of the poromboke; Kannamal Soriyan and Pappal Jikkan on how Irula women read the forests; and Anthony Sowriyar, master craftsman and mridangam maker, on what it takes to make leather sing.

‘In our education system, we’re made to believe that knowledge exists only in academic institutions and a specific vocabulary taught there. We often overlook knowledge rooted in society, passed down through generations, with its own language and ways of understanding and evolving. Porombokkiyal celebrates this diversity while also challenging formal knowledge spaces. A knowledge-maker isn’t defined by a PhD or institution, but by how and where they’ve learned. Yet, we dismiss those outside this system. Many marginalised communities hold deep knowledge that we rarely engage with. This event is a space for us to learn from them, willingly and respectfully,” says TM Krishna, one of the organisers.

He adds that, as people who engage in social justice or environmental issues, we have to provide as many spaces as we can where their voices are directly heard without any intermediary. “It is a process of learning and unlearning that people of privilege have to constantly go through; also to step back and listen. I think the capitalist mindset that has captured all of us today has taken away this awareness and pushed us towards greed. The practices we are presenting at Porombokkiyal also challenge a very market-driven, capitalistic way of looking at how things are made or consumed,” he adds.

Sowriyar Anthony, a third-generation mridangam maker from Tanjore, who will be speaking at the event today, says, “Many don’t know the process or the science behind making a mridangam. I am happy to be talking about this to a great audience.”

Trained by his grandfather Anthony (Chetti) and uncles Das, Johnson, and Raji, he has dedicated over 30 years to this craft. His mridangams have been used by maestros such as Palakkad Ragu, Guru Karaikudi Mani, and Dr. Trichy Sankaran. Known for blending tradition with the needs of today’s artists, Sowriyar’s work carries both heritage and innovation.

“While speaking with TM Krishna sir about music and craftsmanship, I told him that just as we have colleges that teach music, we need institutions that teach the making of musical instruments too. It’s an art rooted in our cultural heritage, and something we should be proud of. I’m always happy to share what I’ve learned with anyone who wants to understand the craft of mridangam making,” says Anthony.

At a time when corporations and governments, aided by institutional science, are enclosing the commons and dispossessing marginalised communities, this festival invites the public to appreciate the value of the commons and experience how communities sustain them through care, creativity, and collective labour.