Cultural significance[edit]
Tibetan street-musician
Dramyins are often used as accompaniment while narrating stories for providing ambience and keeping time, as shown in the Bhutanese filmTravellers and Magicians
Dramyins are notably used in the performance of Dramyin Cham - a cham dance of subjugation performed by Drukpa monks during the singing of Dramyin Choeshay - a religious song. These are performed at religious festivals called tsechus - banned in Tibet, but continuing unabated in Bhutan much as they have been for the past four centuries. The Dramyin music in the cham is notable as it is one of the very few instances ofstringed instruments in monastic music in Bhutan, or for that matter in Tibetan Buddhism in general. A Dramyin player leads the dance and keeps time for the dancers by plucking the instrument. In many chams, the place of the dramyin is taken by a percussion instrument, usually thecymbals.[2]
The Dramyin is generally regarded as a secular instrument, and the performance of a Dramyin Cham or Dramyin Choeshay are one of the few instances when Dramyin is allowed to be played inside a monastery or a Dzong. However, dramyins are often depicted on thongdrels (Tibetan:thankas) and given as offerings to deities. The guardian king of the Eastern direction - Sharchop Gyalpo (identified with Dhritarashtra of Hindu mythology) is associated with a dramyin in religious iconography.[2]
The Dramyin's melodious sound is supposed to attract demons, and the role of the carved chusing on the pegbox acts to ward off demons. The Dramyin is associated with a guardian deity in the Dramyin Cham.[2]