The melody of Rajasthan is hidden in the primitive looking instruments of various variety used by the experts musicians of Rajasthan during the time of the fairs, festivals and special occasion.
Today we are writing about some famous String Instruments in Rajasthan
Sarangi – Famous String Instrument in Rajasthan
Sarangi - Famous string instrument of Rajasthan
One of the well-known string instrument of Rajasthan is Sarangi. This is a multi-stringed instrument that is played by using a bow drawn across the strings and running of fingers on the strings. The modern guitars have probably been modeled upon these.
The bridge of the sarangi supports the huge pressure of approximately 40 strings. Three of the strings mainly the comparatively thick, tight and short ones are bowed with a heavy horsehair bow and stopped tones svaras of the raga. A properly tuned sarangi will hum and buzz like a bee-hive, with tones played on any of the main strings eliciting echo-like resonances.
Rawanhathha
Ravanhatta is also a kind of sarangi. The Rawanhathha of the Thori or Nayak Bhopas is probably the earliest instrument played with a bow, and this humble instrument could well be the precursor of the violin.
It has two main strings and a variable number of supporting strings, with a belly of half coconut shell and a body of bamboo. The bow has ghungroos (bells) attached to it. The music is staccato and accompained by the syncopated singing of the Bhopa and the Bhopan.
Different Versions of Sarangi
The Jogis of Abu Road area use a smaller version of the Rawanhathha which has its two main strings tuned to the ‘Sa’ of the Indian octave and a third of steel to ‘Pa’.
The Langas use the Sindhi sarangi. It is made up of four main wires, seven jharas and seventeen tarafs. Others members of the family are the Gujratan, Jogia and Dhani sarangis. The Surinda, favourite of the Manganiyars, is a small sarangi. The Chikara, used by the Meos and Jogis of Mewat is a replica of the Sarangi.
