The bhankora (plural: ''bhankore'') is a type of

brass instrument A brass instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by Sympathetic resonance, sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips. The term ''labrosone'', from Latin elements meani ...

made of copper that is prominently used in the

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, especially in the Garhwal region. The instrument is aerophonic and used in religious Garhwal folk god summoning, most notably the ''

Pandav Lila ''Pandav Lila'' or ''Pandav Nritya'' (Sanskrit; literally "play of the Pandavas" and "dance of the Pandavas" respectively) is a ritual re-enactment of stories from the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata'', through singing, dancing and recitation, that is ...

and

Nanda Devi Raj Jat Nanda Devi Raj Jat (lit: ''Nanda Devi Royal Pilgrimage'', hindi: ''नंदा देवी राज जात''), is a three-week-long hindu festival and Kurur to Homkund yatra (pilgrimage) organised once every 12 years in Chamoli District ...

''. The instrument is played only by upper class

Garhwalis The Garhwali people are an Indian ethnolinguistic group native to the Garhwal, in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, who speak Garhwali, an Indo-Aryan language. Etymology In modern usage, "Garhwali" is used to refer to anyone whose linguistic ...

during the Naubat, Dhanyal, and Dev Jatra types of religious ritual performances also its used in wars in uttrakhand ancient times . The bhankora is made of copper and is about 36 inches long and about 3 inches in diameter; it creates a sweet melodious sound and tone. Bhankora or bhonkara is Uttarakhand's native musical instrument. This is handmade in copper metal by local Tamta artisans of Uttarakhand traditionally. The size of Bhankora varies from region to region. However traditionally the ideal height of full sized bhankora is supposed to be from ground till the ears of a normal sized person. Bhankora an Aero Phonic or Wind Musical Instrument in Garhwali Folk Drama, Folk Rituals, Community ideas and Traditional Plays from Chamoli Garhwal, North India, South Asia The full sized version of this instrument is played during ceremonial prayers at temples, and at the ''

'', a ritual re-enactment of episodes from the ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

'' in the Garhwal region.

References

Indian musical instruments Culture of Uttarakhand Brass instruments Folk music instruments Trumpets {{brass-instrument-stub