India

Ektara




Ektara is one of the simplest musical instruments used in India, mainly in the north. Ektara literally means single-stringed. This instrument is usually played by a singer of hymns and it helps keep time. The device is made by stretching a string from a hollow cylindrical or gourd-shaped end onto its slender, sometimes perpendicular stalk. It was a regular instrument of wandering bards and minstrels. Singers of renown, like Mira Bai have been picturised with their Ektaras. The exponents of Baul system of music used this device extensively.



Updated on 7th June, 2005

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