dholak - That two headed north indian folk drum!

[korman]

I was on my honeymoon to Rajasthan, India, and I saw some pretty amazing stuff being done on this drum, dholak.
It is a two headed barrel shaped drum about 40-50 cm long where one slightly larger head gives bass tones (usually it has some patch applied on the inside of the head to lower the tone), and the other is high pitched, not unlike the bongo macho.
Does anyone have any information about this drum, where is it used, what are the traditional rhythms? It seemed to be quite popular there, even more so than the tabla, which is the first thing that comes to mind when Indian percussion is mentioned.
Maybe there are some sites, links, books, videos on dholak?

[Tablaji71]

hi Korman, dholak is used, in many style of indian folk music, not classical like tabla.
it also used to accompain singer in Qwalli music, chek out video or cd of Ustad Hali Khan.
there are two technique to play it, open technique and finger technique.
finger technique is similar to tabla and the sound is more soft.
open technique with the whole hands is more easy and with more strong sound.
today mani Sikh player play like this, in punjabi folk music, or in a bangra modern style,(see dhol fondation)
in this group they play DHOL but there are also a dholak player.
basic rhythms is the same for a tabla folk like kherwa 8 beats , or dadra 6 beat, but many people play punjabi dhol rhythms like giddha. 2/4 beats
ex: punjabi rhythm

dha-nana na-nana na-nana nagedinna

or dadra beat

dha din na/dha din na

hope i help you

all the best
f.