HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Ektara ( bn, একতারা, hi, एकतारा, ur, اِک تارا, ne, एकतारे, pa, ਇਕ ਤਾਰਾ, ta, எக்டரா; literally 'one-string', also called actara, iktar, ektar, yaktaro, gopichand, gopichant, golki ne, गोल्, gopijiantra, tun tuna) is a one-stringed musical instrument used in the
traditional music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...
of
South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...
, and used in modern-day music of
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, and
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
. Two-stringed versions are called dotara (two string), a name which also applies to other instruments. In origin the ''ektara'' was a regular string instrument of wandering bards and minstrels from India and is plucked with one finger. The ''ektara'' is a drone lute consisting of a gourd resonator covered with skin, through which a bamboo neck is inserted. It is used in parts of India and Nepal today by
Yogi A yogi is a practitioner of Yoga, including a sannyasin or practitioner of meditation in Indian religions.A. K. Banerjea (2014), ''Philosophy of Gorakhnath with Goraksha-Vacana-Sangraha'', Motilal Banarsidass, , pp. xxiii, 297-299, 331 Th ...
s and wandering holy men to accompany their singing and prayers. In Nepal, the instrument accompanies the singing of the
Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...
and
Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the s ...
. Three different instruments used in modern India and not necessarily related have all been called ''Ektara''. One form resembles a lute. To make that version, a bamboo stick (90 cm long) is inserted through the side of a wooden bowl (called a "tumbo") and the top of the bowl is covered with deerskin. The instrument has a single string running from a peg at the top, down the length of the stick-neck, across a bridge on the deerhide soundboard, and is tied at the "spike" where the stick pokes through the bowl. The instrument's string is plucked with the musician's index fingernail. A second instrument (the gopichanta) uses a drum-like body, a one-piece bamboo neck consisting of a pegbox and two laths formed out of a carved section of hollow bamboo with a wooden peg on the side of the pegbox at the upper end, and a skin soundboard with a string attached in the centre. The two bamboo laths are attached to the side of the drum shell and the string goes from the soundboard to a peg at the end of the neck where the laths join the pegbox. This version of the instrument may be played either by plucking the string or by tapping the drumhead. Squeezing and releasing the bamboo laths changes the tension of the string and bends the pitch down and back up. This form is associated with the
Baul The Baul ( bn, বাউল) are a group of mystic minstrels of mixed elements of Sufism, Vaishnavism and Tantra from Bangladesh and the neighboring Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam's Barak Valley and Meghalaya. Bauls cons ...
s of West Bengal, as well as the
Tharu people The Tharu people are an ethnic group indigenous to the Terai in southern Nepal and northern India. They speak Tharu languages. They are recognized as an official nationality by the Government of Nepal. In the Indian Terai, they live foremost ...
of
Udayapur District Udayapur District ( ne, उदयपुर जिल्ला, is one of 14 districts of Province No. 1 of eastern Nepal. The district, with Triyuga as its district headquarters, covers an area of and in 2001 had a population of 287,689, in 20 ...
, Nepal. A third instrument sometimes called ''ektara'', also called the ''tuṇtuṇe'' consists of a drum with a stick attached along the outer wall. A string runs from a hole in the drumhead to the a power in the end of the stick. It is played to accompany song, held under the left arm, "tuned to the tonic" and played for rhythm and as a drone. This is an instrument of a of Western India, used by "Hindu Sadhus and Islamic Sufi saints" and by
Bhil Bhil or Bheel is an ethnic group in western India. They speak the Bhil languages, a subgroup of the Western Zone of the Indo-Aryan languages. As of 2013, Bhils were the largest tribal group in India. Bhils are listed as tribal people of t ...
, Kukna and Warli tribes.


Performance

''Grove Music Online'' describes the playing of an ektara thus: "The ektārā player holds his instrument upright, gripping the neck just above the resonator and plucking the playing string or strings with the index finger of the same hand. If he is dancing, he supports the gourd resonator with his other hand, in which he carries clusters of small bells which sound as he beats his hand against the gourd." Pressing the two halves of the neck together loosens the string, thus lowering its pitch. The modulation of the tone with each slight flexing of the neck gives the ektara its distinctive sound. There are no markings or measurements to indicate what pressure will produce what note, so the pressure is adjusted by ear. The various sizes of ''ektara'' are soprano, tenor, and bass. The bass ''ektara'', sometimes called a '' dotara'' often has two strings (as literally implied by ''do'', 'two').


Use

The ektara is a common instrument in
Baul The Baul ( bn, বাউল) are a group of mystic minstrels of mixed elements of Sufism, Vaishnavism and Tantra from Bangladesh and the neighboring Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam's Barak Valley and Meghalaya. Bauls cons ...
music from Bengal. Some controversy has arisen in recent years over the adoption and alleged corruption of Baul music by popular bands and films in Bengal. It has become common to mix traditional instruments like the ektara with more modern sounds in an attempt to appeal to a wide audience, which according to Purna Das Baul is "destroying the true beauty" of Baul music.


Kirtan chanting

The ektara is commonly used in kirtan chanting, a Hindu devotional practice of singing the divine names and mantras in an ecstatic
call and response Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...
format. The Ektara is used by Sadhus, or wandering holy men and for Sufi chanting, as well as by the
Baul The Baul ( bn, বাউল) are a group of mystic minstrels of mixed elements of Sufism, Vaishnavism and Tantra from Bangladesh and the neighboring Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam's Barak Valley and Meghalaya. Bauls cons ...
s of
Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
. The use of a stringed drone instrument to accompany the voice in religious settings can be documented in images as far back as the 4th-5th century, when a singer was painted in the Ajanta Caves. He was singing or chanting to Indra, and was accompanied by a one-stringed zither that is structurally the same as the alapini vina.


Gallery

File:Parvati Baul at Ruhaniyat, Purana Qila.JPG,
Parvathy Baul Parvathy Baul is a Baul folk singer, musician and storyteller from Bengal and one of the leading Baul musicians in India. Trained under Baul gurus, Sanatan Das Baul, Shashanko Goshai Baul in Bengal, she has been performing both in India and ot ...
at '' Ruhaniyat'' mystic music festival, at
Purana Qila Purana Qila () is one of the oldest forts in Delhi, India. Built by the second Mughal Emperor Humayun and Surid Sultan Sher Shah Suri, it is thought by many to be located on the site of the ancient city of Indraprastha. The fort formed the in ...
, Delhi File:Ektara1.jpg File:Lalon Tomb0018.JPG File:Toonba and algoza.JPG, Toonba and
Alghoza Alghoza is a paired woodwind instrument. It is traditionally used by Baloch, Saraiki, Sindhi, Kutchi, Punjabi and Rajasthani folk musicians. It consists of two joined beak flutes, one for melody, the second for drone. The flutes are either ti ...
, photo taken in
Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
. File:Ektara side view.png, Photographer labeled photo "Ektara", location unknown. File:Srirangam1362010 025.jpg, The tradition of a holy man with a one-stringed veena was preserved in this 16th-18th century C.E. sculpture of Sage Agastya. The instrument has some resemblance to the eka-tantri vina, also one-stringed. File:Alapini vina, Ajanta Caves, Cave 17.jpg, India, 5th century C.E. Ajanta Caves, Cave 17. Image of a one-string drone accompanying religious singing. The musician plucks an alapini vina, a stick-zither style veena resting on his shoulder.


See also

*
Tumbi The tumbi or toombi ( pa, ਤੂੰਬੀ, pronunciation: ''tūmbī''), also called a tumba or toomba, is a traditional musical instrument from the Punjab region of the northern Indian subcontinent. The high-pitched, single- string plucking ins ...
(Punjabi musical instrument) *
Kendara The Kendara is a wooden string instrument. The ''kendara'' has one string and is most commonly played by drawing a bow across its string. They are mostly played traditionally by ''jogi''s, people who would go from door to door with a dried gou ...


References

{{Strings (music) Monochords Musical bows Plucked membranophones Indian musical instruments Bangladeshi musical instruments Punjabi words and phrases Bengali words and phrases Folk instruments of Punjab Hindustani musical instruments Sufi music Stringed instruments of Nepal Lute family instruments