Divamani Enterprises

Veena is a stringed instrument and it has been in use since at least 1000 BCE. One of the most ancient instruments, it has evolved over a period of time. Originally, this was a generic name for all stringed instruments.

The current version in South India is the Saraswati Veena used in Carnatic classical music.

Structure

Typically it is made from a single block of jackfruit wood. It is a lute with a long neck and has 24 frets. There is a pear shaped wooden body attached to this and there is hollow large circular ball just below the neck and at the other end of the veena.

The different parts of the veena are resonator (tumba), metal clip for holding the strings in place called nagapasha, bridge (mettu), pegs (birgai), strings and yali (decorative piece) at the end. It takes 3-4 days to complete one veena. There could be designs or carvings on the sides to make it interesting. Earlier ivory carvings were made on the Veena and deer horns were also fixed on them. Pegs are typically made of rosewood and fitted into the instrument with beeswax.

The size is about 3.5 to 5 feet. It has four melody strings and three drone strings. The body is made of special wood and is hollow. The instruments edge is carved in the shape of a swan or other shapes such as yali (mythological creature. The external surfaces are decorated with traditional Indian designs.

The melody strings are tuned to sa, pa, sA, pa (the tonic, fifth, octave and the fourth). The drone strings are tuned to double octave, the tonic and octave. It is also used to create the rhythm (tala) in classical music.

Strings

The instrument is placed in such a way that the person sitting cross legged on the floor will have the yali side on his left and the hollow drum is placed on their left lap. The right part of the veena is on the floor.

The string closest to the person is the first string. Depending on which string is played the sound changes. Normally, artists play on the first string and switch to second string. The fingers of the left hand are placed on the string and pressed down gently to get the correct sound while the right hand index finger is used to make the sound as the left hand moves from one swara (seven swaras are sa, re, ga, ma, pa, da and ni) to the other. Right hand middle finger is also used alternating with the index finger when the music is fast. The little finger is used on the drones to get the tala effect.

The veena settings are adjusted and tuning is accomplished by fixing or adjusting the pegs and tightening and loosening the strings. There is a further adjustment possible at the right end of the veena.

Types

Some of the varieties are given below:

1. Rudra veena – it is a fretted instrument with two equal sized resonators below the stick. One gourd is placed over one knee and the other is kept on the shoulder. A variation to this instrument was available in ancient times around the 6th -10th CE with one resonator and seven strings. The strings were made from different metals.
2. Saraswati veena – This is a highly revered veena in Hinduism. In many iconographies, Goddess Saraswati is depicted as holding this veena. This too has two resonators but of different sizes. One of them as mentioned above which is closer to the neck is hollow and it is slightly open while the bigger one is closed. This is considered to be related to the ancient instrument near the Cauvery delta, called the Nanthuni or Nanduruni.
3. Vichitra veena – does not have frets. It is close to a humming human singer, It is played using a piece of round glass which is used to stop the strings. This creates special kinds of decorative music in a performance.
4. Eka tantri veena – It has a single string and one or more gourd resonators. This was popular in the 10th century CE in court music. They do not have frets
5. Bobbili veena – is a variety of Saraswati veena made from a single piece of jack wood. It has abowl called kunda which is hollowed out and is covered with a wooden plate. The neck is called dandi, which is around 51 inches long and it has seven cords. The town of Bobbili in the state of Andhra Pradesh was founded in the 17th century by Pedda Rayudu. This instrument originated from this place in India. In 2011, it has got a Geographical indication tag (Intellectual Property Rights) from the Indian Government. It is stated that the Bobbili rulers were very fond of music and they had learnt to play the veena. The craftsmen who make this are called ‘Bobbili Veena sampradayam’.
6. Chitra veena – this is a more modern (late 19th or early 20th century) 21 string fretless lute. It is also called Gottuvadyam or Kotuvadya. This was named as such by Sakha Rama Rao from Tiruvidaimarudar located in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu in India. This was brought back into Carnatic music concerts through his efforts. The other names of this veena are chitravina, chitraveena, chitra vina, hanumad vina and mahanataka vina. This is actually an ancient instrument which could be traced to 200 BCE where it was a 7 stringed fretless instrument. Interestingly, it was played by Sakha Rama Rao before his disciple Gottuvadyam Narayana Iyengar who lived in the early 1900s. He was the palace musician of the States of Travancore and Mysore. He took it to great heights. His son Citravina Narasimhan further popularised it by spreading his father’s stringing, tuning and playing styles
7. Chitra veena (1) – This is an ancient veena with 7 strings and a arched harp. This was in vogue till the 5th century CE. Arched harp was also found in the vipanchi veena with nine strings and the mattakokila veena with 21 strings
8. Kachapi veena – This is built with a wooden model of a turtle or tortoise as a resonator.
9. Kinnari veena – is an ancient veena which was probably in existence since 500 CE. This is carved with a bird emblem at the end. Though widely used earlier by late 19th century, it has survived as a folk instrument in South Kanara and Mysuru in India. This typically has three gourds with the bottom cut off on the centre gourd. This was pressed to the artiste’s chest while played. The kinnari veena has another version in Tamil Nadu. This is a one-stringed pierced lute made from sorakkai gourd (bottle gourd). This is pierced with a bamboo rod such that a neck is formed and it holds the gourd. It was strung with fibre made from a spefic type of grass (saccharum spontaneum (wild sugarcane)). Now metal strings are used for this.
10. Alapini veena – This is a one string stick- style veena. It has a half-gourd resonator which was pressed to the player’s chest while plucking the string. This is typically shorter than the eka tantri veena.
11. Pinaki veena – a bowed veena very similar to rudra veena. It was played using a stick or coconut shell on the string. Large gourds were attached to the end of a long bar held over the artiste’s shoulder. This veena had only one string made of wire with no frets. Both ends of the long bar was turned up like a bow.
12. Pulluva veena – used by the Pulluvan tribe of Kerala was mainly in religious ceremonies. There is a special song sung with it called the Pulluvan pattu. This song is used for serpent worship in Kerala. Pulluvans consider the snake gods as their presiding deities. Pulluvan veena itself is made out of a hollow bamboo stick, wood shell and brass wire. It is played using a small arrow made from bamboo. This is used even today for snake worship in Kerala temples
13. Thanjavur veena – is a type of veena from the Thanjavur region of Tamil Nadu. It was the first musical instrument to get a Geographical indication in 2012-13. It is a type of Saraswati veena and is about 4 feet long. It has rounded wooden resonators with a thick, long neck. The end of the neck has carvings with intricate patterns and tuning box attached to the underside of the neck. Wood from the jackfruit tree is used.

Today, Veena artistes play this instrument independently with other percussionists or as an accompaniment to vocal artistes in South India. Some of the varieties mentioned above may not be so prominent anymore but there seem to be artistes who use them or play them even today. The most popular today is the 7 stringed Saraswati Veena.