A unique all-woman percussion festival wows Mumbai

Percussion has not always been considered as a woman’s forte. Even now, there are some temple instruments like Chenda, that women are not allowed to play.
However, the recently held event in an auditorium in Bandra, broke multiple barriers as 13 percussionists, all-women, left everyone spellbound with the sheer dexterity of their fingers and their amazing sense of rhythm.

Right from Sukkanya Ramgopal, first woman to play the Ghatam (Earthen Pot), Neesha Mokal, multi percussionist, Charu Hariharan, Mridangam artiste, Sobhita and Rahitha Krishnadas, Chenda players, Siddhi Shah, drummer, Mukta Raste, tabla artiste to Srishty Patidar, world record holder for non-stop drumming for 31 hours.


A rather stellar line-up of talented artistes, these ladies showcased their talent at the ‘Women of Rhythm’ event. Apart from the regular tabla and drums, they showed their expertise on the unconventional instruments like the ghatam, the hand pan, dholki (a traditional Maharashtrian folk instrument), congas, bongo, mridangam, pakhavaj and chenda. The event had many firsts including, a woman mridangam artiste and four women Chenda players collaborating.