The ''gottuvadyam'' is a 20 or 21-string fretless lute-style

veena The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( IAST: vīṇā), is any of various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps.

Carnatic music Carnatic music (known as or in the Dravidian languages) is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and southern Odisha. It is o ...

from around the late 19th and early 20th centuries, named by Sakha Rama Rao from Tiruvidaimarudur, who was responsible for bringing it back to the concert scene. It is also known as ''chitravina'' (), ''chitra veena'', ''chitraveena'', ''chitra vina'', ''hanumad vina'' and ''mahanataka vina''. Today it is played mainly in South India, though its origins can be traced back to Bharata's

Natya Shastra The ''Nāṭya Shāstra'' (, ''Nāṭyaśāstra'') is a Sanskrit treatise on the performing arts. The text is attributed to sage Bharata, and its first complete compilation is dated to between 200 BCE and 200 CE, but estimates vary b ...

(200 BCE-200 CE), where it is mentioned as a seven string fretless instrument. Sarangadeva (1210–47) also made a similar reference to the chitravina in his work, Sangita Ratnakara.

Recent history

As a ''chitravina'' it was popularised in South India by Sakha Rama Rao before his disciple Gottuvadyam Narayana Iyengar (1903 - 1959), who was a palace musician of the erstwhile States of

Travancore The kingdom of Travancore (), also known as the kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor () or later as Travancore State, was a kingdom that lasted from until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvanan ...

and

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

took it to great heights. Iyengar's son,

Chitravina Narasimhan Chitravina Narasimhan (born 1941) is a gottuvadhyam The ''gottuvadyam'' is a 20 or 21-string fretless lute-style veena in Carnatic music from around the late 19th and early 20th centuries, named by Sakha Rama Rao from Tiruvidaimarudur, who ...

(b. 1941) was instrumental in spreading his father's stringing and tuning methods as well as playing style.

Construction and tuning

Since its first reference in the Natya Shastra, The chitravina has undergone numerous developments and is today shaped like the South Indian veena. There are six main strings used for melody that pass over the top of the instrument, three drone strings and 11 or 12

sympathetic string Sympathetic strings or resonance strings are auxiliary strings found on many Indian musical instruments, as well as some Western Baroque instruments and a variety of folk instruments. They are typically not played directly by the performer (ex ...

s running parallel to and below the main strings. Among the more prominent solo instruments in Carnatic music, it is also seen in collaborative world music concerts and north-south Indian

jugalbandi A jugalbandhi or jugalbandi is a performance in Indian classical music, especially in Hindustani classical music but also in Carnatic, that features a duet of two solo musicians. The word jugalbandi means, literally, "entwined twins." The duet c ...

s. The chitravina is generally tuned to G sharp (5 and 1/2) and played with a slide like a

Hawaiian steel guitar The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar or lap slide guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of play ...

and the north Indian

vichitra veena The ''vichitra veena'' () is a stick zither, a plucked string instrument used in Hindustani music. Similar to the Carnatic '' gottuvadhyam'' (chitra vina) it has no frets and is played with a slide. The structure The Vichitra Veena is the mode ...

. The approach to tuning is similar to the

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...

in the context of the 11-12 sympathetic resonance strings (from the low Pa to high Sa), similar to the Saraswati veena in the context of the three drone (tala) strings (Sa-Pa-Sa), but is unique in terms of the top-layer main playing six strings, which are configured as 3 tonic strings (sa), 2 fifth strings (pa) and 1 base tonic string (sa). The 3 and 2 include an octave string which gives the instrument a unique tone. The fretless nature of the instrument, Narayana Iyengar's stringing methods have made its tone 'reminiscent of the human voice.'

Playing technique

The index and middle fingers of the right hand are usually used with plectra to pluck the metal melody strings while a cylindrical block made out of

hardwood Hardwood is wood from Flowering plant, angiosperm trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostl ...

(often

ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also includes the persimmon tree. A few ''Diospyros'' species, such as macassar and mun ebony, are dense enough to sink in water. Ebony is fin ...

), buffalo horn, glass, steel, or

teflon Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluoroethylene, and has numerous applications because it is chemically inert. The commonly known brand name of PTFE-based composition is Teflon by Chemours, a spin-off from ...

held by the left hand is used to slide along the strings to vary the pitch.

Contemporary use

Narayana Iyengar's grandson Chitravina N. Ravikiran (b. 1967) plays the instrument and is the inventor of a variant, the ''navachitravina'' (which is typically tuned to B or C). Other exponents of the instrument include

Budaloor Krishnamurthy Shastri Budaloor Krishnamurti Shastri (1894–1978) was an Indian gottuvadhyam player. Early life Shastri was born in Andanallur in South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan P ...

(1894 - 1978), A Narayana Iyer, Mannargudi Savithri Ammal, Allam Koteeshwara Rao (1933 -),

M V Varahaswami M, or m, is the thirteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of several western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''em'' (pronounced ), plural ''ems''. Histor ...

Allam Durgaprasad Allam is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Abdul Qadir al-Allam (1919–2003), Libyan politician * Ahmad Allam-Mi (born 1948), Chadian diplomat * Ahmed Issam Allam (born 1931), Egyptian gymnast * Andrew Allam (1655–1685), Eng ...

, Chitravina P Ganesh (b. 1976), Madhavachar, Kiranavali (Chitravina), Shashikiran, Gayatri Kassabaum, Lalitha Krishna, Vishaal Sapuram and Bhargavi Balasubramanian, Anahita Ravindran, Apoorva Ravindran.

Seetha Doraiswamy Seethamma Doraiswamy ("Seetha Amma Doraiswamy") or Seetha Doraiswamy ( 27 January 1926 – 14 March 2013), was a renowned Carnatic music, Carnatic multi-instrumentalist. She was the last recognised female exponent of a dying Indian instrument, t ...

, known more as a jala tarangam exponent, used to play the Balakokila, a smaller version of the chitravina.

References

* Natya Shastra, Bharata (2nd century BC-2nd century AD) * Sangita Ratnakara, Sarangadeva * Chitravina N Ravikiran website * Journals of The Music Academy, Madras * South Indian Music, Prof Sambamurthy

External links