The nansingha or nansinga is a type of primitive trumpet made of copper or copper alloys, used in both India and Nepal. The instrument is made of two metal curves, joined to form an "S" shape. It may also be reassembled to form a crescent. It is part of a group of curved-tube instruments that include the ransingha, the narsinga and the sringa. It may also be related to the laawaa and Tibetan dungchen, both straight tubular copper horns.

Alternate names

The instrument's name has been variously spelled narsinga, ransingha, ramsinga, and srnga. Srnga is ''Sanskrit'' for horn and used in North India and Nepal. Its modern forms include "''Sig''", "''Siga,''", and "''Singha''". The term was historically used for a wide variety shapes and sizes of horns, including straight horns, and horns made from water buffalo horns with mouthpieces made from ox horns.

Ramsingha

The ramsinga is a pronunciation specific to India. It uses four pipes of very thin metal which fit one within the other. It is mentioned in

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's works such as ''

The Mystery of the Black Jungle ''The Mystery of the Black Jungle'' () is an exotic adventure novel written by Italian author Emilio Salgari, published in 1895. It features two of his most well-known characters, the hunter Tremal-Naik and his loyal servant Kammamuri, and intr ...

'' (1895), where it is associated with the

thugee Thuggee (, ) was a network of organized crime in British Raj India in the 19th century of gangs that traversed the Indian subcontinent murdering and robbing people.Foucault's Pendulum ''Foucault's Pendulum'' (original title: ''Il pendolo di Foucault'' ) is a novel by Italian writer and philosopher Umberto Eco. It was first published in 1988, with an English translation by William Weaver being published a year later. The bo ...

'' (1988) the ''Ramsinga'' is also mentioned, being played by a devotee of a druidic sect .

Narsinga

Played historically in C shape in Nepal by

Damai Damai ( ; IAST: ''Damāĩ'') is an occupational caste found among indigenous people comprising 45 subgroups. Their surnames take after the subgroup they belong to. People belonging to this caste are traditionally tailors and musicians capable o ...

caste musicians in groups such as the ''damai baja''. This form used in

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 ...

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

and southern

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

. The ''Narasingha'' horn is also played by the ''Gawantaris'' (musicians) of the

Udasi Udasis ( Gurmukhi: ਉਦਾਸੀ ਸੰਪਰਦਾ; ''udāsī saparadā'') (Devanagari: उदासी संप्रदाय), also spelt as Udasins, also known as Nanak Putras (meaning "sons of Nanak"), are a religious sect of ascetic ' ...

sect A sect is a subgroup of a religion, religious, politics, political, or philosophy, philosophical belief system, typically emerging as an offshoot of a larger organization. Originally, the term referred specifically to religious groups that had s ...

Sikhism Sikhism is an Indian religion and Indian philosophy, philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. It is one of the most recently founded major religious groups, major religio ...

to inform the public about religious processions. File:PancheBaaja.jpg, Nepal. The C-shaped narsinga is part of the

Panche baja The ' () is a set of five traditional Nepali musical instruments that are played during holy ceremonies, especially marriages. are usually played by the Damai and the Gaine castes in the Hindu tradition.. ''In Nepal, musicians belong to two untou ...

instruments. File:Narsinga at Hindu wedding ceremony.jpg, Nepal. Narsinga being played for a wedding. File:Nepali Hindu Wedding (6).jpg, Nepal. Narsingas at a wedding party. File:Fresco from Thakurdwara Dariana Mal in Amritsar 08.jpg, Fresco from Thakurdwara Dariana Mal in Amritsar depicting an Udasi playing the ''Narasingha''

References

External links

History of the ransingha or narsinga with photos.

Ancient musical instruments of India (circa 18th Century) as depicted by Balthazar Solvyns in Les Hindoûs (Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, IGNCA)
Natural horns and trumpets Music of Himachal Pradesh Culture of Uttarakhand Folk music instruments Indian musical instruments Trumpets of Nepal Indian inventions {{Brass-instrument-stub

Alternate names

Ramsingha

Narsinga

See also

References

External links