| Name | Image | Description | Video |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bansuri |  | The bansuri is a transverse alto flute of India, made of a single length of bamboo with six or seven open finger holes. An ancient musical instrument associated with cowherds and the pastoral tradition, it is intimately linked to the love story of Krishna and Radha, and is depicted in Buddhist paintings from around 100 AD. | |
| Chenda |  | The Chenda is a cylindrical percussion instrument used widely in the state of Kerala, India. It is also used in some parts of Karnataka where it is called the Chende. The chenda is mainly played as an accompaniment in the Hindu religious art forms of Kerala. | |
| Chimta |  | Chimta is a percussion instrument from India. The chimta consists of a long, flat folded piece of metal steel strip, often with 7 pairs of small metal jingles. The rings are plucked in a downward motion to produce tinkling sounds. Chimtas with large discs are used at rural festivals while ones with smaller discs are often used as an accompaniment to Bhangra (a lively form of music and dance) dancers and singers of traditional Indian hymns. | |
| Conch |  | A Sankh shell (the shell of a Turbinella species in the gastropod family Turbinellidae) is often referred to in the West as a conch shell, or a chank shell. This is a major Hindu article of prayer. It is used as a trumpet. The god of Preservation, Vishnu, is said to hold a special conch, Panchajanya, that represents life, as it has come out of life-giving waters. In the story of Dhruva the divine conch plays a special part. The warriors of ancient India would blow conch shells to announce battle, such as is described in the beginning of the war of Kurukshetra, in the Mahabharata, the famous Hindu epic. The conch shell is a deep part of Hindu symbolic and religious tradition. | |
| Damaru |  | A damaru is a small two-headed drum shaped like an hourglass. The drum is typically made of wood, with leather drum head, or made out of human skulls. Its height ranges from a few inches to a little over a foot. It is played one handed. The strikers are typically beads fastened to the ends of leathern cords around the waist of the damaru. Knots in the leather can also be used as strikers. As the player waves the drum using a twisting wrist motion, the strikers beat on the drumhead. The damaru is well known throughout the Indian subcontinent. It is especially associated with the Hindu deity Shiva. The damaru is used by itinerant musicians of all stripes, due to its small portable size. The image shows a statue in Bangalore depicting Shiva meditating with one hand holding a damaru. | |
| Dhad |  | Dhad is a small hourglass-shaped drum of the Damru style. Held in one hand, it is struck on either side, with the other hand holding the skinned sides vertically or horizontally. This instrument has been very popular with the Dhadies, who sing traditional ballads of brave warriors and heroes drawn from history. | |
| Dhol |  | Dhol is a double-sided sided barrel drum (straight barrels also exist) played mostly as an accompanying instrument to the traditional Punjabi dance of Bhangra, and the religious music of Sufism, Qawwali. | |
| Edakka |  | Idakka is an hourglass-shaped drum from Kerala, south India. They are very similar to the damaru which is found throughout India. Where the damaru is played by rattling knotted cords against the resonators, the idakka is played with a stick. The idakka's pitch may be bent by squeezing the lacing in the middle.The left hand is used for tightening and loosening the tape wound round the middle. Varying the tension of the tape produces variations in tones. Simple melodies extending over one octave can be played in this instrument. The Edakka is one of the five instruments that constitute the panchavadhyam of Kerala. | |
| Elathalam |  | Elathalam is a pair of a small cymbals from India. It is completely made out of bronze. Elathalam is played by keeping one part of the cymbal in left hand banging the other cymbal in right hand. Even seemingly this instrument is small, but it gives a distinct chime. Elathalam, Edakka, Timila, and Maddalam are four percussion instruments used in Panchavadyam, which is an orchestra of five instruments. Panchavadyam originates from Kerala and is a temple associated art form. The fifth instrument is a wind instrument Kompu. | |
| Esraj |  | The esraj (also called israj) is a string instrument found in two forms throughout the north, central, and east regions of India. It is a young instrument by Indian terms, being only about 200 years old. The dilruba is found in the north, where it is used in religious music and light classical songs in the urban areas. Its name is translated as "robber of the heart." The esraj is found in the east and central areas, particularly Bengal, as well as Bangladesh, and it is used in a somewhat wider variety of musical styles than is the dilruba. The esraj is mostly used as an accompanying instrument. It is the accompanying instrument of choice for Rabindra Sangeet singing. However, it has also been used as a solo instrument to interpret Hindustani Classical Music, mostly in the Vishnupur tradition. | |
| Ghatam |  | The ghatam is a percussion instrument, used in the Carnatic music of South India. It is an earthenware pot; the artist uses the fingers, thumbs, palms, and heels of the hands to strike the outer surface of the ghatam. An airy low-pitch bass sound, called gumki, is created by hitting the mouth of the pot with an open hand. The artist sometimes presses the mouth of the pot against their bare belly, which deepens the tone of the bass stroke, and is another way to produce the "gumki" sound. Different tones can be produced by hitting different areas of the pot with different parts of the hands. The ghatam usually accompanies a mridangam. | |
| Ghungroo |  | A ghungroo (ghunguru) is a small metallic bell. Many of them strung together form ghungroos which is a musical accessory tied to the feet of classical Indian dancers. The sounds produced by ghungroos vary greatly in pitch depending on their metallic composition and size. Ghungroos serve to accentuate the rhythmic aspects of the dance and allow complex footwork to be heard by the audience. They are worn immediately above the ankle. | |
| Harmonium |  | A Harmonium is a small, portable, bellow-blown reed organ used in India, Pakistan and Western countries. Though derived from the designs developed in France, the harmonium was developed further in India in unique ways, such as the addition of drone stops and a scale changing mechanism. In Indian and Pakistani music, the player usually sits on the ground, with one hand fingering the keyboard and the other pumping bellows. | |
| Jal Tarang |  | The jal tarang (or jaltarang, jal-tarang, jal-yantra, jalatarangam) is an ancient musical instrument. It is rarely seen or heard, even though the gentle tinkle of its unique sound is quite pleasing. Literally Jaltarang means "waves in water" but indicates motion of sound created or modified with the aid of water. Cups, of varying sizes were made of either bronze or porcelain. Today only China bowls are preferred by artistes, numbering around sixteen in normal use. | |
| Kanjira |  | The kanjira or ganjira, a South Indian frame drum, is an instrument of the tambourine family. It consists of a circular frame made of the wood of the jackfruit tree, between 7 and 9 inches in diameter and 2 to 4 inches in depth. It is covered on one side with a drumhead made of monitor lizard skin, while the other side is left open. The frame has a single slit which contain three to four small metal discs - often old coins - that jingle when the kanjira is played. | |
| Khol |  | The khol (or mrdanga) is a terracotta two-sided drum used in northern and eastern India for accompaniment with devotional music (bhakti). One of the sides of the khol is much smaller than the other. Both sides are covered with cow or goat skin. The smaller head (the dayan) and the bigger bass head (the baya) are usually three-layered heads in addition to a special central region of rice paste, glue, and iron known as the syahi. The drum is played with palms and fingers of both hands. | |
| Kombu |  | Kombu is a wind instrument (big trumpet) usually played along with Panchavadyam, Pandi Melam, Panchari melam etc. This musical instrument is usually seen in Kerala state of south India. The instrument is like a long horn. | |
| Kuzhal |  | The kuzhal is a traditional double reed wind instrument used in the South Indian state of Kerala. It is similar in construction to a nagaswaram or a large shehnai and has a very loud and penetrating tone. It is used primarily for outdoor festivals, in conjunction with drums and other percussion instruments. The instrument has a wooden body with a conical bore, at the end of which is affixed a brass bell. The player blows through a double reed and closes small holes with both hands. The image shows players using chenda (drum) and kuzhal during Panchari melam performance. | |
| Madhalam |  | Madhalam is a barrel drum from Kerala, South India. It is made out of the wood of the jackfruit tree. It has two sides for playing, made out of leather, which give different beats. This is a heavy instrument which is tied around the waist of the person playing and the player stands all the while to perform. It is one of the three kinds of drum used in the Panchavadyam (a temple associated art form). | |
| Manjira |  | The Manjira is a traditional percussion instrument in India. It is a pair of tiny hand cymbals. The Manjira is used in various religious ceremonies of India, especially bhajans - devotional songs dedicated to some Indian god or goddess. | |
| Mizhavu |  | A mizhav or mizhavu is a big copper drum played as an accompanying percussion instrument in the Koodiyattam and Koothu, performing arts of Kerala (a state on the tropical Malabar Coast of southwestern India.) The drum’s mouth is covered with animal skin, and played only with hands. | |
| Mohan Veena |  | The Mohan veena is a stringed musical instrument used in Indian classical music. It is actually a modified Archtop guitar with 20 strings: three melody strings, five drone strings strung to the peghead, and twelve sympathetic strings strung to the tuners mounted on the side of the neck. A tumba or gourd is screwed into the backside of the neck for improved sound quality and vibration. It is played by placing it in one's lap like a slide guitar. | |
| Morsing |  | A morsing (also mourching or morching) is a percussion instrument, mainly used in the Carnatic music of South India. It can be categorized under lamellophones, which is in the category of plucked idiophones. It consists of a metal ring in the shape of a horseshoe with two parallel forks which form the frame. There is a metal tongue between the forks. It is fixed to the ring at one end and free to vibrate at the other. The metal tongue is bent at the free end in a plane perpendicular to the circular ring so that it can be struck and is made to vibrate. This bent part is called the trigger. |
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