The Penang Tabla Society, a 380-person ensemble of devotional singers and musicians, played continuously for 32 hours to commemorate the Maha Shivaratri festival, held in honour of the Hindu deity, Shiva.

A total of 80 tabla players, along with 300 bhajan (devotional) singers, and guitarists and keyboardists took turns to play non-stop, with an alternate team of 10-15 people taking over every 90 minutes.

The tabla is a pair of rounded drums made out of goat hide, with the larger one producing the bass and smaller one the treble.

Participants ranged from as young as age six to as old as 62, and even included members of the Chinese community.

The troupe began playing at 10am on Saturday on the grounds of the Thanneermalai Sree Balathandayuthapani (Waterfall Hill) Temple here, and hit the 32-hour mark at 6pm on Sunday.

Penang housing and local government committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo then signed and presented a certificate by the Malaysia Book of Records (MBR) to the troupe.

Penang Tabla Society chairman R Sathiaseelan explained that the target was set by the MBR as the previous record holder had held a 25-hour bhajan event in Johor, and they needed to exceed the duration by at least 20%.

He added that this event was different as there was a mix of different musical instruments, not just devotional singing alone.

The event was conceptualised by Sathiaseelan and festival director P Shakkteevel – himself a renowned tabla player – who aimed to unite over 20 devotional singing groups in Penang for Maha Shivaratri.

“We prepared for this event two months ahead, through in-person and Zoom training sessions,” Sathiaseelan said, adding that they had initially aimed to hit 31 hours by 5pm Sunday but managed to hit 32 instead.

Sathiaseelan touts his society as one of a kind in the country, as it trains youths in the traditional percussion instrument that has been increasingly featured in pop music today.