Introduction

Today, cheṇdamēḷam (ensemble of traditional drums) and band-sets are often considered to be unavoidable parts of the commemorations of saints and their feasts in Orthodox churches in Malankara. As many clergy and laity now wish to think, it had always been so: belongs to common imagination the picture of an Indianized Church blended with the Hindu atmosphere, in the past.

This shouldn't be surprising. The Israelites, who were led out of the land which held them captive, began to have altered social memories, by the work of the Adversary: that they enjoyed better conditions as slaves in Egypt, that they shared the same religious background as their new, pagan Canaanite neighbours, and so. Nevertheless, God did not leave his people to remain as slaves to their imaginations. He raised up judges and prophets among them, in order to guide them towards the right faith and praxis.

With respect to his Church, too, the Lord established his saints and the blessed Fathers as authorities to establish the boundaries of the Orthodox praxis. This article will discuss the consensus patrum – the dogmatic teaching of the Fathers, including those of Malankara – on the use of drums and other instruments of the pagans, and its implications with respect to the current (mal)practices.

Greco-Roman Context: τύμπανον (týmpanon)

Drums were commonly used in antiquity: by Sumerians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Hebrews (more on that below), Greeks, and Romans. Important for the Greco-Romans was the τύμπανον (týmpanon), a percussion instrument played by hand or with sticks, and commonly classified as a frame drum. It was generally used by the pagans for religious processions and celebrations in their temples, as well as the mystery cults of Dionysius and Cybele. Notably, the third- and second-century BCE translators of the LXX (that is, the Greek Old Testament) often translated tof, the Hebrew term for "drum", as týmpanon. In other words, týmpanon came to be used as a general term for drums.

Being a primarily ritualistic instrument, týmpanon was rejected by philosophers who deemed it as disrupting the soul of man, and generating nothing but vain pleasure. For instance, the Hellenistic Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria (d. 50), a contemporary of our Lord and greatly praised by later Christians, writes the following:

Now, many a man from the false religions, which are not ashamed of criticizing what is noble, will ask: how can there be a feast without carousing and overeating, without the pleasant company of hosts and guests, without quantities of unmixed wine, without richly set tables and highly stacked provisions of everything that pertains to a banquet, without pageantry and jokes, bantering and merry-making to the accompaniment of flutes and citharas, the sound of drums and cymbals and other effeminate and frivolous music of every kind, enkindling unbridled lusts with the help of the sense of hearing? (De specialibus legibus 2:193)

The Fathers: Alexandrians, Cappadocians, and Latins

The early Christians found themselves in an atmosphere filled with arts and rituals of the Greco-Romans. Those who befriended them and were accustomed with their culture would not have found it difficult to blend. Thus St. Cyprian of Carthage (d. 258) speaks of certain Christians among these circles, who defend the use of gentile instruments including drums. The Carthaginian prelate proceeded to condemn them as "namesake Christians" who are keen to maintain the "vain superstitions associated with the public exhibitions of the pagans" (On Public Shows 4).

In late-second-century Alexandria, which housed several cults and heretical sects, St. Clement (d. ca. 220) writes the following:

When a man occupies his time with flutes, stringed instruments, choirs, dancing, Egyptian crotala and other such improper frivolities, he will find that indecency and rudeness are the consequences. Such a man creates loud noise with cymbals and drums [týmpanoi]; he rages about with instruments of an insane cult. .. We completely forbid the use of these instruments at our temperate banquet [i.e. a Christian assembly or gathering]. (Paedagogus 2:4:40)

Agreeing with the aforementioned philosophical critics, Clement observes that vain arts disrupt the natural state of one's soul, instilling impropriety and haught in him (or her!). Being the Malpan of Alexandria (for he was the head of the Alexandrian catechetical school in his lifetime), Clement formally forbids the use of instruments such as drums and cymbals (Mal. ilathāḷam) in Christian gatherings. He was not alone in instructing so.

Among the Cappadocian Fathers, St. Basil of Caesarea (d. 379) condemned "vain arts" of all kinds including lyres and flutes, and concluded that "their end is damnation" (Commentary on Isaiah 159). The weight of his words should not be overlooked: Gr. τέλος (télos) means "aim, end goal, result". In other words, the arts and instruments of the gentiles are meant to result in eternal perdition.

Basil's colleague, St. Gregory of Nazianzus (d. 390), spoke more imperatively on the same. In an oration addressed against the pagan Emperor Julian the Apostate, Gregory instructs Christians:

Let us not adorn our doorways; let not our houses be illuminated with perceptible light, nor let them resound with festivities and clapping. For this is the custom of Hellenic sacred frenzy; but let us not honor God with these things, nor exalt the present occasion with things that are unworthy.. [Rather] let us take up hymns instead of drums [týmpanon], and psalmody instead of shameful contortions and songs. (Oration 5:25)

Here one finds an explicit contrast between the Christian hymns and the drums of the pagans, and a command to renounce the latter.

This patristic view of drums and other instruments wouldn't change even a little in the succeeding centuries, and in fact, was successful to a major extent in suppressing the customs and rituals of the pagans. St. Cyril of Alexandria (d. 444) explicitly associated the "noise of drums" and rhythmic clapping with "every kind of impurity", and included those who indulged in these corruptions among those who shall "not enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Commentary on Isaiah [PG 70:149]).

"But, doesn't the Bible speak of instruments including drums?"

As noted above, Cyprian came across certain "namesake Christians" who attempted to defend the use of drums and other gentile instruments. He notes that they quoted from the Scripture: particularly from the Psalms, since the Psalmist often refers to drums (LXX. týmpanon) and players of drums positively, in the context of worshiping YHWH (cf. Psa. 80:3-4; 149:1-3). Their question was simple: if the Psalmist and the Israelites used drums, why can't we?

The Church's answer was simple, as well: Scripture provides no sanction for the Christian use of such instruments, just as it provides no sanction for offering animal sacrifices to God after the redeeming Crucifixion (though the Pentateuch provides for it). The golden-tongued St. John Chrysostom (d. 407) comments:

The Ancients [i.e. Hebrews] used these instruments because of the slowness of their understanding and to keep themselves from idols. Just as he received sacrifices he allowed those things because of their weakness. (Expositions on Psalms [PG 55:494])

Elsewhere, Chrysostom critiques the Jews for their feasts and celebrations using instruments including drums:

Listen then to the prophets, or rather listen to God, with what excessive vehemence he rejects them: "I have hated, I have rejected your feasts" (Amos 5:21). God hates them, and you [wish to] participate [in them]? And he did not say, "this feast or that feast," but all of them together. Do you wish to see that he also hates the service [λατρεία] conducted with drums and the lyre and psalteries and other instruments? "Remove from me the sound of your songs," he says, "and I will not hear the psalm of your instruments” (Amos 5:23). (First Homily Against Jews)

Continuing in the same Antiochene line of interpretation, Theodoret of Cyrrhus (d. 457) noted that God allowed the Israelites to use drums temporarily so that "by the smaller evil [they] avoid the greater", i.e. idolatry. This makes sense in the biblical context, since after the times of David and Solomon, God revealed through the Prophets (esp. Amos, as Chrysostom demonstrates above) his displeasure with rituals and practices after the manner of the pagans.

The Forgotten Teachings of Malankara

It wasn't only the Greek and the Latin Fathers who taught against the use of drums and other pagan instruments; the Fathers of Malankara did as well.

In his Chronicle, Simeon Mar Dionysius of Kochi (d. 1886) lists corrections decreed by Patriarch Peter IV of Antioch (d. 1894) in Karingachira with respect to practices in certain regions. Among these, he mentions:

അഞ്ചാമതു: പള്ളികളിൽ ശുദ്ധിമാന്മാരുടെ പെരുന്നാളുകൾക്കാകട്ടെ, മെൽപട്ടക്കാരുടെ ചാത്തം അടിയന്തിരങ്ങൾക്കാകട്ടെ — വെടി, വാദ്യം, തമ്പേറു, ചെണ്ട മുതലായതു ഉണ്ടാക്കുകയും.. പട്ടക്കാരു ഇട്ടുചമഞ്ഞു, വെടി, വാദ്യവും, തമ്പേറു, ചെണ്ട മുതലായ ഘോഷങ്ങളെ കൂട്ടി കൊടയും സ്ലീബായും എടുത്തു പട്ടക്കാരു അരുളയ്ക്ക എന്നു പറയുന്നതായ ബിമ്മത്തെ കൈയിൽ പിടിച്ചു കൊണ്ടു നഗരികൾ തൊറും നടന്ന ജനത്തെ മുത്തിച്ചു വരുന്ന മര്യാദ കാനൊനിന്നും ശട്ടത്തിന്നും വിരൊധമാകയാൽ ഇനി മെലിൽ അപ്രകാരം ചെയ്തു പൊകരുതെന്നും.. കല്പിച്ചു.

Five: He decreed.. that, in churches, whether for the feast days of the saints or for the commemorations of the metropolitans — setting up fireworks, instruments, drums (tampēṟu), cheṇda and the rest.. and the custom of clergy, wearing ornate dresses, taking the festal parasol and cross and walking through the towns while holding the icon called monstrance which is kissed by people, accompanied by the celebrations of fireworks, instruments, drums (tampēṟu), cheṇda and the rest — since they are contrary to canon and law, henceforth such things shall not be done. (Nalagamam; cf. M. Kurian Thomas, Pathrose Pathriyarkeesinte Parishkarangal, pp. 143-144)

Later, Pat. Peter IV composed the Procedures of Faith, Rituals, and Sacraments. This text was revised and translated into Malayalam by St. Gregorius of Parumala (d. 1902).

പിന്നെയും പള്ളികളിൽ ഓരോ പെരുനാളുകൾക്കു പുറജാതിക്കാരെപ്പോലെ സദ്യ കഴിക്കുകയും കൊട്ടു, ചാട്ടം, കളി മുതലായ തിന്മപ്പെട്ട പ്രവൃത്തികളോടുകൂടെ സ്ലീബാ ആഘോഷമെന്ന് പറഞ്ഞും കൊണ്ടും നഗരങ്ങളിൽ ചുറ്റിനടക്കുകയും ഞായറാഴ്ചകളിലും പെരുനാളുകളിലും ഇറച്ചി മദ്യം മുതലായ മേച്ചം ആഹാരങ്ങൾ ഒരുക്കി പള്ളിയിൽ വച്ചു നേർച്ച കഴിക്കുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നതായി നാം കേൾക്കുന്നു. "എന്റെ ഭവനം സകല ജാതികൾക്കുമുള്ള പ്രാർത്ഥനാഭവനമെന്നു വിളിക്കപ്പെടും എന്നു എഴുതിയിരിക്കുന്നില്ലയോ? എന്നാൽ നിങ്ങൾ അതു കള്ളന്മാരുടെ ഗുഹയാക്കിയിരിക്കുന്നു" എന്നു നമ്മുടെ കർത്താവ് അരുളിചെയ്തിരിക്കുന്നതുപോലെ ഇങ്ങിനെയുള്ള അശുദ്ധ പ്രവൃത്തികളാൾ ദേവാലയത്തെ കാവ്യരുടെ ആരാധനസ്ഥലത്തിനു തുല്യമാക്കിത്തീർക്കുന്നവൻ ദൈവവിരോധിയും തൻറെ ഭാഗ്യത്തിൽ നിന്നും അകലപ്പെട്ടവനും ആകുന്നു. അതിനാൽ ഇങ്ങിനെ ഉള്ള പ്രവൃത്തികൾ ശുദ്ധമാന പള്ളികളിൽ വെച്ചു ചെയ്യാൻ ഒരു പ്രകാരവും നിങ്ങൾക്കു അധികാരമില്ല. വിപരീതമായി പ്രവർത്തിക്കുന്നവൻ ശുദ്ധമാന പള്ളിയിൽ നിന്നു തള്ളപ്പെടും എന്നു നിങ്ങൾ പ്രത്യേകം അറിഞ്ഞു കൊള്ളണം.

Moreover, we hear that for feast[s] in churches, people eat feasts like the Gentiles, and along with wicked practices like drumming, dances [lit. jumping], and games, they roam the towns claiming to celebrate the Cross; and that on Sundays and feasts, people prepare abominable foods like meat and alcohol, and consume offerings at the church. As our Lord has declared, "has it not been written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it a den of thieves", he who makes the church equal to the worship-places of the pagans [lit. Hindus] by performing such impure acts is a heretic and a stranger to his inheritance. Therefore, you have no right to perform such acts in the sacred churches. Know this particularly: anyone who acts contrary to this shall be cast out from the holy Church. ("യാക്കോബായ സുറിയാനി സഭയിലെ വിശ്വാസം, ആചാരങ്ങള്‍, കൂദാശകള്‍ എന്നിവയുടെ നടപടിചട്ടങ്ങള്‍" (1876); cf. M. Kurian Thomas, Pathrose Pathriyarkeesinte Parishkarangal, p. 207)

The earlier instruction has been formalized as a canonical regulation here, with explicit mention of the consequence if it isn't followed: those believers (and clergy!) who perform and participate in "the wicked practices" such as drumming at feasts and ecclesial processions (a) desecrate the blessed churches by making them equal to the temples of the pagans; (b) are heretics and shall lose their salvation; and (c) are to be excommunicated from the Church.

Thus, the eminently blessed and saintly Parumala Thirumeni himself forbids the adoption and practice of pagan customs including cheṇda and condemns those who denigrate the churches by violating the canon. His disciple, St. Dionysius the Illuminator (i.e. Vattasseril Thirumeni; d. 1934), mandates that the holy days "shall be observed according to the Christian principles, and not according to the Jewish or pagan traditions" while commenting on the observance of Maranaya Feasts (Quintessence of Religious Doctrines 16; obviously, the feasts of the saints are "holy" as well, and the saint distinguishes between the observance of the two solely by noting that believers are to refrain from their worldly work on Maranaya Feasts alone).

Conclusion

Drums and other instruments including cymbals were used by nearly all major pagan cultures of the East and the West, in antiquity. Yet, the Church condemned and censured them: Sts. Clement, Cyprian, Basil, Gregory, Chrysostom, and Cyril all wrote explicitly with respect to their intrinsically heterodox nature, and the resulting consequences if Christians violate the canonical regulations – loss of eternal life promised to each who are baptized into the body of Christ.

The Fathers did not teach differently in Malankara: and this is obvious, for the universal teaching of the Fathers (the consensus patrum) with respect to Orthodox doctrine and praxis is one and the same, everywhere. The Chattavaryola of 1853 had forbidden all forms of ritualistic dances for festal processions. Pat. Peter IV, who quite probably was aware of the patristic teachings with respect to adoption of pagan arts and customs, prohibited the same. Formulated as canonical regulations, St. Gregorius translated his instructions into Malayalam. His disciple, St. Dionysius, prescribed that the holy Feasts are not to be commemorated according to the traditions and customs of the gentiles.

Lastly, we may note here that Met. Geevarghese Mar Ivanios of Blessed Memory (d. 2013) disallowed cheṇdamēḷam and fireworks for feasts and ecclesial processions in his jurisdiction. Akin to the early Israelites and their priests who disobeyed the Prophets, Mar Ivanios' precepts were largely ignored and transgressed. Yet, as a true spiritual father, he continued to teach the truth.

Time shall reveal the spiritual and material consequences the new Israelites of Malankara will endure: effects of the impieties with which they have associated the Apostolic Church.