The ''pināka vīnā'' ( pinnak + veena) was an Indian musical instrument, a

musical bow The musical bow (bowstring or string bow, a subset of bar zithers) is a simple string instrument used by a number of African peoples as well as Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It consists of a flexible, usually wooden, stick 1.5 to 10 feet ...

that was itself played with a bow. It has also been transliterated ''pinaki vina'' and ''pinak''. It appeared similar to the rudra veena (also called "''bīn''" or "''been''"), with a long bar held over the musician's shoulder and resting on the ground, with large gourds attached at each end for resonators. However, where the ''rudra veena'' has multiple strings and frets, the pinaka vina had only one string made of wire and no frets. Where the ''rudra veena'' was a stick zither (with a straight and rigid bar for the instrument's body), the ''pinaka vīnā'' was a musical bow (its body a long stick turned up at each end). The instrument was sounded with a bow. The musician chose notes with a stick held against the strings, able to slide it up and down on the string, in the same way a bottle slides on a

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that ...

's strings. File:Ragaputra Sarang painting, from Bundi, showing "The Divine Musician playsa a pinaki vina".jpg, Ragaputra Sarang painting, from Bundi, showing "''The Divine Musician plays a pinaki vīnā''." File:Pinaka vina.jpg, India, 1807. Pinak, a bowed

Origins

'' Pinaka'' was the name of the bow (arrow-shooting variety) of

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

. The musical bow ''pināka'' made it into literature by the 12th century C.E. in the ''Saraswati Hridayalankar'' or ''Bharatbhashya'' by Nanyadeva (1097–1133 C.E.) In the mid-12th century it was considered to be a very important instrument by Haripala, a

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

i king (son of

Karna Karna (Sanskrit: कर्ण, IAST: ''Karṇa''), also known as Vasusena, Anga-Raja, Sutaputra and Radheya, is one of the major characters in the Hindu epic ''Mahābhārata''. He is the son of Surya (the Sun deity) and princess Kunti (later ...

). The instrument was recorded in 1456 as having a second resonator. By 1810 the instrument was rare, and much of our knowledge about its appearance comes from drawings made by Frans Balthazar Solvyns, an artist who illustrated many common scenes in the 1790s and early 1800s. As the ''pinak'' was a northern instrument, a bowed southern instrument also existed, the '' ravanahatha'' stick zither. The ''pināka'' and ''ravanahatha'' are tied together in literature. As ''pināka'' was Shiva's bow, the ''ravanahatha'' was created in legend by the ascetic demon king

Ravana According to the Mahakavya, Hindu epic, ''Ramayana'', Ravana was a kingJustin W. Henry, ''Ravana's Kingdom: The Ramayana and Sri Lankan History from Below'', Oxford University Press, p.3 of the island of Lanka, in which he is the chief antag ...

, a devotee of Shiva.

References

{{Indian musical instruments Indian musical instruments Musical bows String instruments Chordophones