Ravanhatha

#ashokasays Did you know 265:

 

Indian Music possibly has one of widest range of instruments being used anywhere else in the world. We usually know the very popular instruments like tabla, violin, sitar, shehnai, etc. But there are some instruments which we see off and on on TV in the but don't realize that they are some of the oldest instruments that are played and some of them are as old as the Ramayan times.

Ravanhatha is one of them. I am sure you would have seen this specially when you see the Rajasthani folk music.

This is a bowed string instrument and it is believed that it was first played, or built, by the Hela community in the times of King Ravana. The bowl of the instrument is made of a cut coconut shell that is covered with goat hide. A stick, commonly called dandi, made from Bamboo, is attached to the shell. There are two principal strings – one is made of steel and the other is made from horsehair. There are jingle bells attached along the long bow as well. The instrument has seen royal treatment through history and according to mythology, it was supposedly brought to North India by Lord Hanuman after the victory of Rama. It is still played in some parts of Rajasthan and is a part of the folk music there.

Though this series is about India, I would like to include this instrument which was born in Srilanka as the culture of playing this instrument is popularized and still kept alive by Indians. From India, the ravanahatha traveled westwards to the Middle East and Europe, where in the 9th century, it came to be called the Ravan strong.

INCREDIBLE BHARATHA