The name kachchapi was also given to a type of veena for the same reason.
Originally the gourd was almost flat like the back of a tortoise, and therefore such sitars were called kachchawa. The body is usually made of a gourd cut in half near the core. In superficial appearance the sitar is very much like a veena. The sitar is perhaps the commonest of all the stringed instruments of northern India. Ragas Bhairava, Todi and Chandrakauns are shared throughout eastern Europe, Greece and the Middle East. My experience has brought me to witness this first hand. This exchange of music and feelings has been shared throughout the world. Ragas or modes depict certain emotions which are shared universally. In pre-Buddhist times, India had trade relations with Middle East, Greece, Turkey and other regions and naturally there was an exchange of music. The migrations of Indian music to the countries surrounding at an early period forms an interesting subject of study. As for the theory of the music they practiced and the name and characteristics of the instruments they used, the only sources of information are the treatises that deal directly with music. These sculptures and paintings reveal performers who participated in concerts and dance programs. Numerous varieties of drums, flutes, veenas and bells are shown in the ancient sculptures. Ancient Indian sculpture also depicts musical instruments with astounding wealth of detail. The origin of music in India is attributed to gods and goddesses and to mythological figures like gandharvas and kinnaras who figure in all the stories and legends connected with the science and practice of music.Īncient Sanskrit literature and treatises on the science of music commonly refer to musical instruments. Music and dance have been the chief forms of religious expression in India. The volume increases and decreases in accordance with the desired accents and emphasis on the rhythmic pieces and also with intensity of the expressions of various kinds of sentiments. It is a long practiced art of the dancer to produce the volume of the sound from ghungaroos. Kathak and folk dances are the only dances in which so many ghungaroos are used. Traditionally, 100-150 ghungaroos are tied on each ankle.
Ghungaroos are the bells tied around the ankles of a Kathak dancer to reflect the sound of the percussion instruments such as the tabla or pakawaj.