  Experiments on a chain of coupled pendula driven periodically at one end
demonstrate the existence of a novel regime which produces an output frequency
at an odd fraction of the driving frequency. The new stationary state is then
obtained on numerical simulations and modeled with an analytical solution of
the continuous sine-Gordon equation that resembles a kink-like motion back and
forth in the restricted geometry of the chain. This solution differs from the
expressions used to understand nonlinear bistability where the synchronization
constraint was the basic assumption. As a result the short pendula chain is
shown to possess tristable stationary states and to act as a frequency divider.
