Madhura Mridanga is made up of Fibreglass body. The side heads are made up of imported high quality single chain Polymer and has been tested for superior strength. 

The head rings are made of plastic material and designed to perfectly fit on to the heads. The unique design has been carefully crafted in order to facilitate Mridanga players to play on Madhura Mridanga rigourously and for a long time as is the situation in Ratha yatra’s etc. Also, the new learners of Mridanga will find it especially useful as it is painless to hands!

Plastic used in Madhura Mridanga are NOT “Single use plastics”. Hence they are fully recyclable. Moreover, they are bio-safe materials which do not react with human skin.

Mridanga making is traditional indeed. However, we must know that traditionally, leather was obtained from cow’s that died naturally.

But that is not the situation anymore!

Hence, we are forced to choose various other options for the sake of protection of Krsna’s cows, who are our own father and mother. This is also in line with Srila Prabhupada’s instruction that we should avoid leather and choose alternatives such as plastic etc. Moreover, Srila Prabhupada specifically instructed to use technology and manufacture Mridangas.

Hence our effort.

The word “Mrdanga” has two derivations:

1. “yad angam Mrdyate, Aahayante, asau iti Mridangah” – meaning that, “Mridanga” is that whose body take lot of beating and rubbing to make sounds.
2. Secondly, “Mrttikayam angam iti Mridangam” – meaning that, whose body is made up of mud is known as Mridanga.

Traditionally, the body of a Mridanga was and still made of Wood, Mud, Brass, etc. Lately Fibre or Fibreglass has also been used.

Therefore, it is wrong to claim that other bodied Mridangas are not Mridangas. Each body has specific inherent quality and they produce unique sounds accordingly.

More than the symbolism the importance is of the tone and the sound quality to be obtained. In Madhura Mridanga the heads are pulled and held by the nuts. There are 22 nuts altogether that pull to provide the necessary tone including the ‘nak’ sound.

Yes, It is according to the instruction of Srila Prabhupada. Ishana Das (ACBSP) produced the first synthetic mridanga on the instruction of Srila Prabhupada. They are still doing it.

As you will notice, the first difference is the superior sound quality. Madhura Mridanga is able to surpass not only the sound quality of other fibre mridangas (including that of leather based but fibre bodied mridanga) but also a player will be able to produce “te” “re”, “ta” and the “nak” or click sounds on the small side, while “khe” and “Dhumki” sounds on the larger side , all distinctly and prominently.

Madhura Mridanga is actually cheaper than Leather based Mridanga.

The Mud bodied Mridanga has an average lifespan of 4 years (if played everyday and kept very safely). A very good Leather Mridanga will cost Rs4000 to 6000.

At this rate, their annual investment is Rs1000 to Rs1500

Madhura Mridanga will last for at least 20 years. At this rate the annual investment is Rs500 only!

Now, you decide which is cheaper!

With simple economics we can understand that when demand is decreased, there is less production. For example, instead of 1000 leather mridangas being ordered to a Mridanga maker, if I order only 10 per year, that many cows and calves are being saved from slaughterhouse. If someone argues the cows anyway will be taken to slaugtherhouse then that is not a good arguement because most important is we should not be the active cause of cow killing. Rather, we should be the active cause of cow protection. If someone argues, we cannot save all the cows, that too is not a sane arguement since a Vaisanva or a brahmana is compassionate and considers all cows as Krishna’s cows and not narrow mindedly as my cow or their cows.

Further, there is a recurring effect. With leather Mridangas, every two years the same customer goes to purchase causing more number of cows and calves being killed, Whereas, with Madhura Mridnaga being so durable, it will last long for a lifetime and then every two years we are saving cows and calves from the same customer. Hare Krishna.