While the Isai Vellala community in the composite Thanjavur district dominates nagaswaram- and thavil-playing, other communities have been playing the instruments in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. One of them is the community of Maruthuvars (physicians) or barbers. But their families have gradually given up the occupation of barbers to become full-time musicians or take up other jobs.
Terada Yoshitaka, Japanese scholar and author of T.N. Rajarathinam Pillai: Charisma, Caste Rivalry and the Contested Past in South Indian Music, has cited the Gazetteer of Coimbatore, South Arcot, Salem, Ramanathapuram, and Pudukottai, besides that of districts in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, that had made a reference to the community of barbers in the field of music. He says the majority of the Chennai Maruthuvar musicians moved to the city during the 20th Century from neighbouring districts, especially Chengalpattu and North Arcot. But researchers have not paid adequate attention to the presence of a substantial number of nagaswaram and thavil players from the Maruthuvar community in Kanniyakumari and the composite Tirunelveli district.
Historically, they were known as Mahamathirar and the Lexicon of the University of Madras says they were Maruthuvar. “The original occupation of this caste is believed to have been that of a surgeon for males and of a midwife for females, onto which barbering and playing music were later added,” says Terada.
