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It was the 31st of December; just few hours shy of the New Year’s Eve I was introduced to a live form of ancient art. For the lack of appropriate words and at a risk of sounding bombastic, here’s a snippet of my first experience of an ancient temple art form, which was just as contradictory as was visiting the town where I witnessed the very same. A day or two prior to the New Year’s, I had set forth a journey to a small town called Peruvemba, in Palakkad, Kerala. The place I knew through my maternal lineage, is one among the lesser known temple towns of Southern India. Peruvemba is more traditional than modern, yet not entirely alienated from urbanization. A town with all the global amenities but, with an antique cultural charm. This is where I have come across some age-old Hindu temples, active to this date. Puja rituals are still conducted by the temple priests on a regular basis, in worship of the central deity of the temple. Ancient Hindu chants of both Sanskrit and Malayalam origin were sung in a monotone. Some of these temples I visited were ancient and unheard of, protected in its dilapidated forms for mythological, cultural and archaeological purposes. What caught my interest amidst these ancient temple grounds, spiritual deities, scripture rocks, etc., was the annual temple art celebration at one of the main temple grounds. Few hours into the last day of the year and I was all set to attend the much-awaited local temple celebration. Originating from the temples of Southern India primarily Kerala, 'Thayambaka' is a form of traditional orchestra where classical musical instruments of Indian origin like 'Chenda' & 'Ilathalam' (Traditional Cymbals) are beaten in a rousing manner producing a unique symphony. This musical procession is led on by two main leads on Chenda, which is continued in support of the rest of the Thayambaka entourage. That is where I spotted them. The twins. The two gents leading this energizing procession of classical Indian sounds. At first, it was just the excitement of spotting a pair of twins, later I realized the reason behind my constant gaze on them was something else. The whole reason behind them being the leads of this musical festival, was their ability to start a tune and make others lead them, solely through facial expressions. Some innate facial language developed over years of learning and practice. After getting cued by the leads, the rest of them joined in to add to the uplifting sounds of Chenda and Ilathalam, swiftly drumming their way to the pinnacle of the musical piece, marking the end of first half of a particular music piece. Later starting with a few slow beats to ascendance of the speed of drumming, ending with a raging number of beats per minute. The musical dedication of the Thayambaka twins and their group was showcased for a good hour and a half. The Chenda sticks; moving swiftly and the sounds of Ilathalam; ‘Clang’, ‘Clang’, were reverberating, to produce an ancient melody. A harmony, without lyrics or rhyme; just the lively rendering of the Chenda and Ilathalam, at the temple ground, worshiping the main deity. Although, its roots are ancient, the locals as well as tourists were seen to take immense pleasure being part of this one-day music festival, where I spotted some over-enthusiastic aficionados head-banging to the ever-growing beats of Chenda. This experience was nothing short of attending one of the rock concerts. The vibrations of the percussion's reverberating in the entire temple region. It's beautiful to see that such ancient art forms are still preserved and alive for the entertainment of the public. Bid goodbye to the forgone year with a touch of tradition and welcomed the new year with a sense of pride of having witnessed one of the oldest temple arts present in the country today.