The martial dance of Tamil Nadu is called Silambattam. The dancers do mock combat with various weapons, such as sticks, clubs, sword, horns, daggers etc, one kind of weapon at a time. The mock combat is done in pairs. In fact, a kind of competition takes place between the combating pairs. The dancer who outsmarts the opponent dancer is lustily cheered by the audience. The drum music for the dance is provided by Sendai Melam, i.e. group of three to four drummers playing the drum Sendai in unison.