instruments Tantu      Been      Chikara      Dilruba      Ektara      Esraj      Gottuvadyam      Rabab      Santoor      Sarinda      Sitar      Surbahar      Swarmandal     Tanpura      Veena      Vichitra Veena      Violin Avanada Ghana Susir

Sitar :
The Sitar owes its origin to Amir Khusrau, who lived in the 13th century. The instrument's name is derived from the Persian 'seh-tar' or three-stringed. It belongs to the lute family and is made from a seasoned gourd, which acts as a resonating chamber, and teakwood. There are six or seven main strings (four of which are played

and two or three used as a drone and rhythm strings) and from eleven to nineteen sympathetic strings, the two  sets being carried on  separate bridges. Twenty frets made of brass and tied to the long hollow neck with string can be easily moved in order to conform to the scale of a particular raga. The main strings, which are tuned, are plucked with a 'Mizrab', plectrum, worn on the index finger of the right hand. The sympathetic strings are also tuned and usually vibrate to the sound of the main strings.

They are, however, plucked on occasion by the little finger of the right hand inserted between the main strings. Sitars are of varying sizes, the smaller ones often played by women. Some have an extra gourd at the end of the neck.