South India
Indian

Wood, hide, cane, metal, fabric, plastic, leather, hemp
Mid 20th century
Length: 20 in, Small diameter: 11 in, Large diameter: 15.5 in
Membranophones – Struck Membranophones – Directly

The tavil (thavil) is a large and powerful barrel shaped drum that comes from Tamil Nadu, a state in southern India, that is famed for its Dravidian-style Hindu temples.  The tavil is used in temple, folk and Carnatic music.  It often accompanies the nadasvaram at open-air temple festivals.  The larger side bass skin is usually tuned and beaten with a short wooden stick, the smaller side, usually untuned skin is tapped with thimbles that are put on the fingertips.  

This instrument is carved from a hollowed out solid block of jackfruit wood.  The skins on the two sides are stretched over hoops made of hemp. The center of the body is surrounded by a flat steel ring to which metal looping straps covered in yellow plastic are attached. These loops also attach to the hemp hoops around each head, holding the instrument together. The smaller head is stretched more loosely across the drum to allow for pitch bending. This instrument has a maroon and gold velcro fabric wrap with black lining that surrounds the center of the body. Seen here are drumsticks and eight white cylindrical finger caps.