🎶 Musical instruments
Musical instruments of India
Song, instruments and dance belong together: an old verse in the Sangita-ratnakara says the three together are called sangeet. Instruments appear in prehistoric rock paintings, on Gupta coins and in temple sculpture, and India sorts them into four families.
The four families of instruments
A four-fold classification followed in India since ancient times, as the Sangeet Natak Akademi puts it — by what vibrates to make the sound.
Tata vadya
String instruments · chordophonesStrings that are plucked, bowed or struck — NCERT’s examples: the veena (played with the fingernails), the violin (with a bow) and the santoor (struck).
Sushira vadya
Wind instruments · aerophonesAir makes the sound: blown by mouth through a reed (shehnai) or without one (flute), pushed by bellows (harmonium), or through a natural shell (shankh).
Bansuri (flute)ShehnaiNadaswaramHarmoniumShankh (conch)PepaPungiTangmuriJaltarang
Avanaddha vadya
Percussion instruments · membranophonesA skin stretched over a hollow body is struck — with the palms and fingers (tabla) or with sticks (dhol); the hollow body resonates and makes the sound louder.
TablaPakhawajMridangamKanjiraDholNagara (nagada)TumbaknariChendaUdukkaiPungKholMadal / MandarHalgePanchmukh vadyaAnand lahiri / Gopi jantra / GapchuDamaru
NCERT also sorts instruments by what they do: melody instruments and rhythm instruments.
Instruments by state
Only the regions NCERT names for each instrument are shaded; the colour is the family of the first instrument listed for that state. Click a state.
All instruments
Filter by family or tradition.
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Veena
वीणाA plucked string instrument of Carnatic music. Mysore Doraiswamy Iyengar’s style of playing it is called the Mysore bani — and the Gupta king Samudragupta had himself shown playing a veena on one of his coins.
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Sitar
सितारThe best-known string instrument of Hindustani music, played by Pandit Ravi Shankar (Bharat Ratna). Tightening a tuning peg raises the tension and so the pitch. Its modern form evolved between the 13th and 17th centuries.
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Surbahar
सुरबहारA plucked ‘bass sitar’ with a deeper, lower range than the sitar, suited to long alaap passages. Annapurna Devi mastered it.
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Sarod
सरोदA string instrument of Hindustani music, listed by NCERT with the sitar, sarangi and santoor.
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Sarangi
सारंगीA string instrument of Hindustani music.
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Santoor
संतूरA string instrument whose strings are struck rather than plucked or bowed; part of the Hindustani ensemble.
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Violin
वायलिनPlayed with a bow. In NCERT’s Carnatic song lesson, the violin and the mridangam accompany the singer.
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Tanpura
तानपूराListed first among the instruments of Hindustani music; classrooms often use an electronic tanpura.
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Rabab
रबाबA stringed instrument that accompanies Rouf, the dance Kashmiri women perform in a group.
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Bansuri (flute)
बाँसुरीMade of bamboo with six or seven finger holes, blown without a reed. Pannalal Ghosh made it a concert instrument of Hindustani music, settled on a 32-inch bamboo flute and introduced the seven-hole flute.
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Shehnai
शहनाईA woodwind instrument with a reed. Once played mostly in folk music, it became popular in Hindustani classical music through Ustad Bismillah Khan (Bharat Ratna), who played at the Red Fort on 15 August 1947.
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Nadaswaram
नादस्वरम्A wind instrument of Carnatic music.
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Harmonium
हारमोनियमA keyboard wind instrument: bellows push air through reeds. In Kashmir it accompanies Rouf with the rabab and the tumbaknari.
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Shankh (conch)
शंखNCERT’s example of a ‘natural’ wind instrument.
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Pepa
पेपाA wind instrument made of buffalo horn, played with the dhol for Bihu in Assam.
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Pungi
पुंगीA woodwind instrument that accompanies Kalbelia, the dance of Rajasthan, with the khanjira.
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Tangmuri
तांगमुरीA wind instrument played with the drum for Nongkrem, the autumn dance of Meghalaya.
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Jaltarang
जलतरंगA set of glass, metal or clay bowls holding different amounts of water, struck on the rim with a stick. NCERT counts it as both melody and rhythm — a wind instrument (the air above the water vibrates) that is also percussive.
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Tabla
तबलाPlayed with the palms and fingers. Its modern form evolved between the 13th and 17th centuries, drawing on the repertoire of the ancient pakhawaj. Ustad Zakir Hussain (1951–2024), son of the tabla player Ustad Alla Rakha, played everything from accompaniment for Pandit Ravi Shankar to solo concerts.
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Pakhawaj
पखावजAn ancient drum of Hindustani music; the tabla’s repertoire came from it.
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Mridangam
मृदंगम्A drum of Carnatic music; in NCERT’s Carnatic song lesson it accompanies the singer with the violin.
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Kanjira
कंजीराA drum of Carnatic music.
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Dhol
ढोलA barrel-shaped drum played with sticks — for Bihu in Assam, Saila in Odisha and Garba in Gujarat.
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Nagara (nagada)
नगाड़ाA kettle drum — NCERT places it in Rajasthan, in Odisha’s Saila dance, and shows people of Jharkhand playing the nagada.
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Tumbaknari
तुम्बकनारीA small kettle drum of Jammu and Kashmir, played for Rouf with the rabab and harmonium.
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Chenda
चेंडाA percussion instrument of Kerala.
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Udukkai
उडुक्कईA percussion instrument of Tamil Nadu.
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Pung
पुंगThe drum of Manipur. In pung cholom the dancers play the drum while they dance.
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Khol
खोलA percussion instrument of eastern and north-eastern India.
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Madal / Mandar
मादल / मांदरA drum of Bihar and Jharkhand; in Chhattisgarh the panthi dance moves to the beats of the mandar and jhanjh.
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Halge
हलगेA percussion instrument NCERT places in Gujarat and Karnataka.
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Panchmukh vadya
पंचमुख वाद्यA percussion instrument NCERT places in Haryana and the southern states.
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Anand lahiri / Gopi jantra / Gapchu
आनंद लहरी / गोपी यंत्र / गपचूOne instrument with three names, listed by NCERT among the percussion instruments of Assam, West Bengal and Odisha.
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Damaru
डमरूIn the Chola bronzes of Shiva as Nataraja, his upper right hand holds the damaru, ‘his favourite musical instrument to keep on the beat’.
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Ghatam
घटम्A pot of baked clay, played in Carnatic music.
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Morsing
मोरसिंगA metal instrument of Carnatic music.
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Khartal
खड़तालNCERT’s example of a solid instrument made of wood.
Masters and their instruments
Musicians often become synonymous with their instruments.
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Ustad Bismillah Khan
Took the shehnai from folk music to the Hindustani concert stage; Bharat Ratna. Invited to play at the Red Fort on 15 August 1947.
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Pandit Ravi Shankar
Sitar exponent and Bharat Ratna; he also composed ‘Swagatham shubha swagatham’.
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Ustad Zakir Hussain
1951–2024Tabla maestro, son of the tabla player Ustad Alla Rakha; he started very young.
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Annapurna Devi
1927–2018Daughter of Baba Allauddin Khan of the Maihar gharana; mastered the surbahar. Her students included Hariprasad Chaurasia and Nikhil Banerjee.
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Pannalal Ghosh
1911–1960Disciple of Baba Allauddin Khan; made the bansuri a concert instrument of Hindustani music and introduced the seven-hole flute.
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Mysore Doraiswamy Iyengar
born 1920Carnatic veena player of the Mysore court; his style is called the Mysore bani. Padma Bhushan, 1983.
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Baba Allauddin Khan
Founder of the Maihar Band, an orchestra known for its blend of many instruments; teacher of Annapurna Devi and Pannalal Ghosh.
Instruments through history
From rock paintings and a king’s coin to the concert stage — every step from NCERT or an official source.
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Prehistory
Music in the rock paintings of Bhimbetka
The rock paintings of Bhimbetka show hunting, dancing and music among scenes of daily life.
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c. 300 CE
Bharata’s Natyashastra
A Sanskrit work on dramaturgy that brought dance, drama and music together.
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Gupta era
A king with a veena
Samudragupta had himself portrayed playing the veena on one of his coins, with the goddess Lakshmi on the reverse.
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10th century
The Tevaram, sorted by music
The hymns of Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar were compiled as the Tevaram and classified by the music of the songs.
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12th century
Manasollasa
The Chalukya king Someshvara III wrote the Manasollasa, an encyclopaedia that covers music along with astronomy, architecture, medicine, cooking and games.
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12th century
Nataraja’s damaru
In the Chola-period bronze of Shiva as Nataraja, the upper right hand holds the damaru to keep the beat.
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1253–1325
Amir Khusrau and the qaul
Poet, musician and disciple of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya, Amir Khusrau gave the Chishti sama‘ its form by introducing the qaul, sung at the opening or close of qawwali.
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14th century
A market of musicians
Ibn Battuta found a market place for male and female singers in Daulatabad.
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Late 15th century
Dhrupad at Gwalior
Under Raja Mansingh Tomar of Gwalior, himself a composer, the ancient genre of dhrupad was developed to new heights.
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15th–16th century
Purandaradasa
Called the father of Carnatic music; he may have composed as many as 4,75,000 kirtanas. A stamp marked his 400th death anniversary in 1964.
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16th century
Tansen at Akbar’s court
Tansen (Ramtanu Pandey) went to Akbar’s court and became one of its nine ratnas.
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13th–17th centuries
Sitar and tabla take shape
Modern forms of the sitar and tabla evolved through experiments by instrument makers and musicians, while their music drew on much older instruments — the ancient pakhawaj, for the tabla.
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Thanjavur Marathas
Modern Carnatic music takes shape
Serfoji II, the most notable Thanjavur Maratha ruler, patronised many musicians; in his time modern Carnatic music took shape.
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1896
Vande Mataram set to music
Rabindranath Tagore set the poem to music and sang it at the Congress session in Calcutta; in 1950 it was adopted as the National Song.
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15 August 1947
Shehnai at the Red Fort
Ustad Bismillah Khan was invited to play the shehnai at the Red Fort on the day India became independent.
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1964
A national gallery of instruments
The Sangeet Natak Akademi’s gallery of musical instruments was inaugurated by the violinist Yehudi Menuhin; a 1968 exhibition showed about 400 instruments.
Old texts on music
Natyashastra — Bharata
Dramaturgy that joins dance, drama and music (c. 300 CE).
Brihaddeshi — Matanga
Gives a classic definition of raga: a sound adorned with notes that delights the mind.
Sangita-ratnakara — Sharangadeva
Calls song, instruments and dance together ‘sangeet’, and explains nada.
Manasollasa — Someshvara III
A 12th-century royal encyclopaedia with a section on music.
The science of sound
Instrument makers use these principles — the makers are essential for the survival of traditional art forms.
Vibration
Sound is made by vibrations, which travel as waves through air or water to our ears.
Resonance
A hollow body resonates and makes the sound louder — the cavity of a drum, for example.
Frequency
Faster vibration means higher pitch: tightening a sitar’s tuning peg raises its pitch.
Timbre
The ‘colour’ of a sound depends on the material, how the instrument is built and how it is played.
How we check: every fact comes from NCERT textbooks (the Kriti arts books, Exploring Society, Themes in Indian History, An Introduction to Indian Art) or the Sangeet Natak Akademi; our build fails unless its key phrases are found in the source itself. Regions are only those NCERT names.