The pungi, also known as bīn or Murli, is a

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make Music, musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person ...

that originates from the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

. The instrument consists of a

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

into which air is blown and then channelled into two reed pipes. It is played with no pauses, as the player employs

circular breathing Circular breathing is a breathing technique used by players of some wind instruments to produce a continuous tone without interruption. It is accomplished by inhaling through the nose while simultaneously pushing air out through the mouth usi ...

. In street performances, the pungi is used for

snake charming Snake charming is the practice of appearing to hypnotize a snake (often a cobra) by playing and waving around an instrument called a pungi. A typical performance may also include handling the snakes or performing other seemingly dangerous ...

History

The pungi is a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

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 ...

reed pipe instrument that is mostly played by cobra charmers in

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

and

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

. The instrument is made from a dry hollowed

gourd Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly '' Cucurbita'' and '' Lagenaria''. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. Many gourds ha ...

with two bamboo attachments. It is also a

double-reed A double reed is a type of reed used to produce sound in various wind instruments. In contrast with a single reed instrument, where the instrument is played by channeling air against one piece of cane which vibrates against the mouthpiece and cr ...

instrument. The pungi is played by Jogi in the

Thar desert The Thar Desert (), also known as the Great Indian Desert, is an arid region in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent that covers an area of in India and Pakistan. It is the world's 18th-largest desert, and the world's 9th-large ...

. It is in particular played by

snake charmers Snake charming is the practice of appearing to hypnosis, hypnotize a snake (often a cobra) by playing and waving around an instrument called a pungi. A typical performance may also include handling the snakes or performing other seemingly d ...

, mostly in the

Terai The Terai or Tarai is a lowland region in parts of southern Nepal and northern India that lies to the south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas, the Sivalik Hills and north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. This lowland belt is characterised by ...

and

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

, to arouse snakes to dance. The instrument has a high, thin tone and continuous low humming. It has been an important instrument in Indian folk culture and is known by various names in different parts of India. In northern India, it is known as the been, tumbi, and bansi; in the southern India, it is known as the magudi, mahudi, pungi, and pambaattikulhal.

Construction

The pungi is constructed from a solid coconut cover, to which pieces of bamboo are joined, and has two components: a hollow vessel constructed from a gourd, and two pipes, each with a free-beating

single reed A single-reed instrument is a woodwind musical instrument, instrument that uses only one Reed (mouthpiece), reed to produce sound. The very earliest single-reed instruments were documented in ancient Egypt, ancient Greece as well as the Middle Eas ...

(jivala). The player blows air through the top tube-like portion of the instrument. One pipe makes drone-like sounds. and the other produces the

melody A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of Pitch (music), pitch and rhythm, while more figurativel ...

. The pipe that produces the melody has seven holes and a range of one octave. The drone pipe only has one hole. Traditionally, both sounds are played simultaneously using circular breathing to create a hypnotic effect. The pungi is usually played solo, as it is difficult to play it with other instruments.

Ban on snake charming

The instrument was often used to entertain the public with snake charming. However, this practice was eventually banned throughout the country in 1991, under the

Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted for the protection of plants and animal species. Before 1972, India had only five designated national parks. Among other reforms, the Act established schedule ...

References

External links

Cobra Dance at Negombo Beach
{{Single reeds Indian musical instruments Pakistani musical instruments Single-reed instruments

History

Construction

Ban on snake charming

See also

References

External links