ErwinGholson17 at 11:47, 26 March 2026

2026-03-26T11:47:17Z

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{{Short description|Musical instrument}}
{{multiple image|caption_align=center|header_align=center
| align = right
|header = ''Eka-tantrī vīṇā''

| image3 =Decorations of the Mukteshvara Temple of Bhubaneswar 02.jpg
| width3 = 140
| alt3 = Eka-tantri vina
| caption3 =''Eka-tantrī vīṇā'' at [[Mukteshvara Temple, Bhubaneswar|Mukteshvara Temple of Bhubaneswar]], ca. 10th century C.E.

|image4 = Indian - Sarasvati - Walters 2550.jpg
|width4=156
|alt4 = Sarasvati with eka-tantri vina
|caption4 = India, 10th century C.E. Image of Saraswati holding an ''eka-tantri vina'', a type of tube zither.

|footer = The far-right image shows many details missing from depictions of the ''eka-tantri vina'': the longer length of the instrument, thick tube, the large gourd at the top, the playing style over the shoulder, the stylized mouth at the bottom of the instrument, a bridge on the rectangle just above the mouth.
}}
The '''''eka-tantrī vīṇā''''' was a medieval [[tube zither|tube-zither]] [[veena]] in India, with a single string and one or more gourd resonators. The instrument became prominent in Indian music in about the 10th century C.E. as instruments of court music. Alongside the [[alapini vina]] and [[kinnari vina]] it replaced the [[Ancient veena|harp-style veenas]] and lute-style veenas in sculpture. It was possibly a forerunner of the [[rudra vina]]. It shares its name with the modern single-string drone lute, the [[ektara]].

The instrument is very closely related to the one-stringed alapini vina, an instrument which started out a [[Bar zither|stick zither]] but became a tube zither like the eka-tantri vina.

Although the tube zithers and stick zithers are very similar, it is possible that they have different origins. Early paintings of stick zithers in India date back at least to the 5th century C.E. The earliest currently known stick zither is in the Caves of Ajanta at the end of the 5th century.<ref>{{cite web |website= rudravina.com |title= The History |url= http://www.rudravina.com/html_gb/hist_01.html |access-date= 2021-06-08 |archive-date= 2021-05-01 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210501225154/http://www.rudravina.com/html_gb/hist_01.html |url-status= dead }}</ref> After a period of assuming that tube zithers spread from India to Southeast Asia, modern scholars have been trying to decide if the tube zithers might have originated in Southeast Asia and spread to India. Whatever the origins, Indian influence on musical culture in Southeast Asia is recorded in the archaeological remains of past civilizations.<ref name=grove>{{cite encyclopedia |author = Alastair Dick |author2= Gordon Geekie |author3= Richard Widdess |editor-last= Sadie |editor-first=Stanley |entry= Vina, section 4 Medieval stick zithers|encyclopedia= The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments |year=1984 |id= Volume 3 |pages=729–730 |quote=}}</ref><ref name=Vivi>{{cite journal |journal= National Security |volume= 4 |issue= 1 |date=January–March 2021 |author1= Piyal Bhattacharya |author2= Shreetama Chowdhury |title= How the Ancient Indian Vīṇā Travelled to Other Asian Countries: A Reconstruction through Scriptures, Sculptures, Paintings and Living Traditions |publisher= Vivekananda International Foundation |pages= 50–53 |url= https://www.vifindia.org/sites/default/files/national-security-vol-4-issue-1-article-pbhattachary&schowdhury.pdf}}</ref><ref name=Wrazen>{{cite journal |author= Louise Wrazen |title= The Early History of the Vīṇā and Bīn in South and Southeast Asia |journal= Asian Music |date= Autumn–Winter 1986 |volume= 18 |issue= 1 |pages=37–42 |publisher= University of Texas Press |doi= 10.2307/834157 |jstor= 834157 |url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/834157 |url-access= subscription }}</ref>

==Parts of the eka-tantri vina==
Parts of the vinas from Sarnga Deva's '' Ratnakara'':<ref name=varieties>{{cite web |title= Varieties of Veena |website= SARASWATHI VEENA(SARASWATI VEENA) |url= http://www.theveena.com/the-veena/varieties-of-veena/ |quote= [paraphrased-translation placed online of parts of the Sangeeta Ratnakara of Sarngadeva]}}</ref><ref name = Misra>{{Cite web |author = [[Lalmani Misra]] |website = Oneline Musical Education, omenad.net|url= http://www.omenad.net/articles/bsv_ektantri.htm |title=Excerpts from Bharatiya Sangeet Vadya - Ektantri Veena |access-date=2007-10-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080908081754/http://www.omenad.net/articles/BSV_ektantri.htm |archive-date=2008-09-08 |url-status=dead |quote= [Misra's source for this section of his book is Sarnga Deva's ''Sangita-Ratnakara''.]}}</ref>
*''Biradaalu'', anchoring point for string at the top of the instrument
*''Dandam'' or ''dandi'' the body or tube
*''Kakubham'', hollow box at bottom end, top curved slightly, bridge sits on
*''Naagapaasam'', anchoring point for string at the kakubham
*''Patrika'', bridge
*''Tumba'', resonator
*''Yali'' or ''dorika'', carved figure on bottom end
*''Kramica'', shall stick held against string by musician. Sometimes replaced in sculpture by one or two fingers held straight.

==Identifying the ''eka-tantrī vīṇā''==
{{multiple image|caption_align=center|header_align=center
| align = right

| header = Development of fretted instrument
| image1 = Saraswati holding an Eka-tantri vina, ca. 1000 C.E.jpg
| width1 = 135
| alt1 =Saraswati holding an Eka-tantri vina, ca. 1000 C.E.
| caption1 = Saraswati holding an ''eka-tantri vina'', ca. 1000 C.E. This image clearly shows the bridge (bottom of instrument) which would sustain the string's note and create a buzzing quality.

| image2 =Sarasvati with fretted Eka-tantri vina.jpg
| width2 = 209
| alt2 = Sarasvati with fretted Eka-tantri vina
| caption2 =Sarasvati with a fretted ''[[kinnari vina]]'', with an apparent ''makara'' or ''yali'' on the top. Fretted tube-zither vinas are mentioned in literature by 800 C.E., coexisting with the non-fretted vinas. The [[rudra veena]] descends from the kinnari veena.<ref name=intotovina>{{cite journal |title= An Introduction to the Vina |author= Karaikudi S. Subramanian |journal= Asian Music |volume= 16 |issue= 2 |date=Spring–Summer 1985 |pages= 9–13, 19 |publisher= University of Texas Press |doi = 10.2307/833772 |jstor= 833772 |url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/833772 |quote=Kumba (1400 A.D.) attributes the invention of the fourteen fretted kinnari to Matanga (800 A.D.) the author of Brhad-desi. [Tarlekar 1961- 172]...]|url-access= subscription }}</ref> The square at the bottom of the instrument is a stylized version of the bridge from the ''eka-tantri vina''.

| image3= A 19th century strolling singer musician playing Tingadee instrument, Madras.jpg
| width3 = 200
| alt3 = Kinnari veena or tingadee
| caption3 =[[Madras]], 1876. ''Kinnari vina'' labeled "tingadee." The spike is a bridge, directing string energy to resonator. In later kinnari vinas a third gourd was added in the center, which was pressed into the chest, similar to the alapini vina.

|footer= The ''ālāpiṇī vīṇā'', ''eka-tantri vina'' and ''kinnari vina'' were all mentioned in the 12th-13th century book [[Sangita Ratnakara]] by [[Śārṅgadeva]].<ref name=grove/> The 19th-century kinnari vina appears to have traits of both the ''alapini vina'' and the ''eka-tantri vina''. The gourd of the kinnari vina pressed into the musician's chest is similar to the ''alapini vina''. The gourd high enough to go over the shoulder is a trait of the ''eka-tantri vina''. Eka-tantri means single string. The alapini vina may have developed into a multi-stringed instrument. The kinnari veena had two strings in the early to mid-19th century; the early 20th century kinnari vina in the Metropolitan Museum of Art has two main strings, and like the rudra veena that came from it, three side strings. The kinnari vina had waxed on frets, and the alapini vina may also have developed frets.
}}

Instruments in paintings and sculpture are not generally labeled, and researchers have had to apply the name ''eka-tantrī vīṇā'' (one-string vina) to different instruments. Iconography can't show whether the rods or bodies are hollow, and researchers have had to look for clues in literature.

Instruments in surviving images that are labeled ''eka-tantrī vīṇā'' are generally tube zithers with wide tubes and a gourd attached to the top, the gourd held over the musician's shoulder and the other end past their hip, with a single string and no frets. Musician's are shown sliding the straightened fingers of their upper hand on the string, or holding a stick to slide on the string, and plucking with their lower hand.<ref name=Koch1>{{cite journal |title= Klang und Kultur: Musikethnologische Erkenntnisse als Grundlagen für musikarchäologisches Arbeiten |author= Lars-Christian Koch |journal= Archäologie in Deutschland
|date= 2015 |pages= 12–21 |publisher= Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft (WBG) |jstor= 26321804 |url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/26321804 |quote= Sonderheft: Musikarchäologie Klänge der Vergangenheit: Theiss (2015) [translation: Special Issue: Music Archeology Sounds of the Past: Theiss]}}</ref>

The instruments are fretless, the depictions showing a single string. The later instruments labeled '' [[kinnari vina]]'' we're fretted and show traits of both the ekatantri vina and the alapini vina, with gourds that are pressed into the chest and also rise above the shoulder.<ref name=Koch1/>

In medieval artwork, a second lower gourd has been seen on both stick zithers and tube zithers. Artwork for the eka-tantri vina commonly shows a second carved resonator or gourd resonator near the instrument's lower end.

While the eka-tantri vina had only one string (the meaning of its name), it may have been modified to add additional strings and frets, moving toward the development of the rudra veena. The manner of holding the instrument is similar too. The kinnari veena with its multiple strings and frets also may also be related in the development of the rudra veena, although this instrument was held vertically in artwork, different from the manner the rudra veena was held.

===The instruments in literature===
Based on definitions from Indian literature, the unifying criterion is that both have a single string and a gourd resonator. The literature includes the [[Nāṭyaśāstra]] (written sometime between 2nd century B.C.E. - 3rd century C.E.) by [[Bharata Muni]] and the [[Sangita Ratnakara]] (written 1210 - 1247 AD) by [[Śārṅgadeva]].<ref name=Vivi/>

====According to Śārṅgadeva====
In the 13th century, the Sangita Ratnakara placed vinas into three categories: fretless (into which the ''eka-tanktri vina'' was placed), [[ancient veena|harps]], and fretted vinas (which included the ''alapini vina'' and the ''kinnari vina''). Frets were possibly introduced as a reaction to the invention of the 12-string scale, ca. 700–800. In 1400, the frets on the ''kinnari vina'' were attributed to Matanga (800 A.D.) the author of Brhad-desi.<ref name=intotovina/>

For the ''eka-tantri vina'' Śārṅgadeva described an instrument made of [[Senegalia catechu|Khadirah wood]], less than a yard long (alternative translation says 3 arm lengths long), with a dandam "a stetched palm" (about 5-8 inches) in circumference, and 1.5 inches narrower on the bottom where a [[yali (mythology)|yali]] might be carved.<ref name=varieties/>

In comparison, the ''alapini vina'' Śārṅgadeva described was an instrument 36 inches long, the [[Pterocarpus santalinus|red sandalwood]] or [[Senegalia catechu|Khadirah wood]] or bamboo rod 2 inches in circumference. The cup (tumba) was made from coconut, and its string was reportedly made of silk, producing a delicate sound.<ref name=varieties/>

====Modern researchers====
Researchers [[Piyal Bhattacharya]] and Shreetama Chowdhury described the ''eka-tantrī vīṇā'' as being a larger instrument, with a "bigger tube" and bigger gourd, compared to the ''ālāpiṇī vīṇā'', which they described as a stick zither. The researchers looked at where the instrument's gourd was placed while playing; they indicated instruments with the gourd over the shoulder were ''eka-tantrī vīṇās'' and those pressed against the chest were ''ālāpiṇī vīṇās''.<ref name=Vivi/>

Patrick Kersale applied the label ''ekatantri'' to a 10th-century tube zither from the [[Pala Empire]], a long instrument with a squared base and raised bridge-like piece (that lengthened the time the string would sound).<ref name=Kersalefretted/> Like on the modern ''[[pinaka vina]]'' a stick was slid on the string to determine the notes.<ref name=Kersalefretted>{{cite web |author= Patrick Kersale |title= Fretted zither |url= https://www.soundsofangkor.org/english/ancient-music/zither-fretted-va/}}</ref> With the [[kse diev]], the gourd is pressed with different pressures into the player's, and the ring finger of the right hand plucks, while the left hand applies pressure on the string at the players chest.<ref>{{cite web |author= Patrick Kersale |title= Zither - kse diev - ខ្សែដៀវ |url= https://www.soundsofangkor.org/english/traditional-music/zither-kse-diev/}}</ref> The purpose of the bridge may also have been to create a "buzzing" quality to the note (known in [[Indian classical music]] as [[jivari]].<ref name=grove/>

The writers for the vīnā entry in the '' New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments'' called the ''ālāpiṇī vīṇā'' a stick zither, in which the stick might be a bamboo or wooden tube. They focused on how the vinas were played. The gourd on the ''ālāpiṇī vīṇā'' was cut to form a cup or bowl, the opening of which could be placed against the musician's body while playing, creating a "closed resonance chamber". On the ''eka-tantrī vīṇā'' and later ''Kinarri vina'' the gourd (bottom intact) used for the resonance chamber rested over the musician's shoulder. These latter two might have a second or third gourd added further down, creating the modern ''kinarri vina'' and ''[[rudra veena]]''<ref name=grove/>

In his book [[Bharatiya Sangeet Vadya]], [[Lalmani Misra]] used Śārṅgadeva's work to describe the ''Eka-tantri''. The body of the instrument, was 3 arm-lengths long and a hand's breadth wide, hollowed out to form a tube, with a bore of 1.5 forefinger widths. A borehole (perpendicular to the instrument's bore) allows the resonating sound in the tube to pass into each gourd resonator; the perpendicular bores are 2 forefingers or 3 pinky-fingers wide. The gourds are secured to the eka-tantri's wooden stem using gut cord, passing through holes made in the stem, down through a hole in the top of the gourd; the thread goes through a pair of holes in the top of a coconut, set inside the gourd (with the rounded side, pressing against the sides of the gourd and toward the stem). On the instrument's lower end, the bridge (kakubh) is attached, its surface not flat but rounded like a tortoise shell. On top of the bridge a ''patuli'' (metal plate forming a spike) was placed in the center.<ref name=Misra/>

===Symbolism===
[[File:Makara or yali, from Walters Art Museum statue "Saraswati".jpg|thumb|Ca. 10th century C.E. Makara or yali on an ''Eka-tantri vina''.]]
Different symbolism appears on the instruments over time. In Hinduism, the instruments have been associated with the gods [[Shiva]], [[Saraswati]], and [[Nataraja]].<ref name=Koch1/> Shiva has been portrayed playing it romantically for [[Paravati]], and as an ascetic, Natajara in his form as the divine dancer. Saraswati is a goddess of flowing things, including water, wisdom and music. Much less frequently, [[Krishna]] has also been portrayed playing the vina and dancing; the instrument is not iconically associated with him, as his instrument is the flute.

The instrument has been portrayed in Buddhist temple art in the hands of humans, as well as celestial ''[[kinnara]]s'', half human, half bird figures.

Some kinnari vinas in museums seem to have bird-related carvings and feathers on the ends. Some ''alapini vinas'' and ''eka-tantri vinas'' have very styled ends that resemble the heads of monsters, similar to the [[Makara]] water monster's or the [[Yali (mythology)|Yali]]'s. Both monsters had forms that included an elephant's trunk, a feature found on some kinnari vinas.

==''Eka-tantri'' vinas==
<gallery>
File:Saraswati with eka-tantri vina, Close up from Vishni, Lakshmi and Sarasvati carvings, National Gallery of Victoria.jpg|Bengal, India. 11th century C.E. Saraswati playing Eka-tantri vina. Her left hand is holding a stick, which may be like the slide on a [[Pinaka veena]]. That stick is not uncommon in the Pala Empire made sculptures. The gourd is resting over her shoulder.

File:Saraswati with alapini vina or eka-tantri vina, 12th century.jpg|Saraswati with alapini vina or eka-tantri vina, 12th century.
File:Alapini vina, from India nord-orientale, vishnu vasudeva, 12th century.jpg|Saraswati with an [[alapini vina]] or possibly eka-tantri vina. The instrument has no apparent resonator except the thick tube of the body. Alapini vinas tended to have narrower tubes.<ref name=varieties/> 12th century C.E.

File:Eka-tantri vina, from sculpture "Guardians of the eight directions".jpg|Eka-tantri vina, from sculpture "Guardians of the eight directions"
File:WLA haa Standing Buddha Pala dynasty 2.jpg|A Buddhist artwork with a person playing eka-tantri vina (far left).
File:Eka-tantri vina, Stone Made Parvati from Rajasthan displayed at National Museum, New Delhi, left side.jpg|Eka-tantri vina, from the feet (left side) of the ''Stone Made Parvati'' from Rajasthan, displayed at National Museum, New Delhi
File:Eka-tantri vina, Stone Made Parvati from Rajasthan displayed at National Museum, New Delhi, right side.jpg|Eka-tantri vina, from the feet (right side) of the ''Stone Made Parvati'', from Rajasthan, displayed at National Museum, New Delhi
File:A statue of Saraswati Kathmandu Nepal.jpg|Date unknown. Saraswati playing an eka-tantri vina in Kathmandu, Nepal. The resonator depicted is not a gourd but carved (possibly wood].
File:Eka-tantri vina, from Parsvanatha, National Museum, New Delhi.jpg|Musician with body of snake playing eka-tantri vina, from Parsvanatha
File:Woman playing Eka-tantri vina at Ambika Mata temple.jpg|Woman playing Eka-tantri vina at [[Ambika Mata Temple]].
File:Harshnath Temple sculptures 15.JPG|Image from the [[Harshnath Temple]]
File:Harshnath Temple sculptures 16.JPG|Image from the Harshnath Temple with side view of the eka-tantri vina's resonator
File:HAZARARAMA TEMPLE-Dr. Murali Mohan Gurram (33).jpg|Side view of an eka-tantri vina at the [[Hampi#Hazara Rama temple|Hazara Rama temple]] at [[Hampi]]. Circa early 15th century C.E.
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Indian musical instruments]]
[[Category:Gourd musical instruments]]
[[Category:Monochords]]
[[Category:Tube zithers]]

Ekatantri veena - Revision history

ErwinGholson17 at 11:47, 26 March 2026