Pungi

This article is about the musical instrument. For software, see Pungi (software).

A man playing pungi in the street

The pungi, also called the been, or bin is a wind instrument played by snake charmers in India. The pungi is similar to the Chinese Hulusi but has only two reed pipes, known as the "jivala". The pungi was improved to produce the Shehnai. The pungi originated in India and is still played by snake charmers in street performances. The pungi is generally available in all music knowledge books and music instrument shops.

History

The pungi was originally developed as an Indian folk music instrument. It is important for religious purposes and music in India. The pungi was popular in the Badagutittū about fifty years ago. However, prior to this it derived from Indian folk music and was used for religious purposes for snake charming.

Physical description

A pungi or been.

The pungi is traditionally made from a dried bottle gourd. Often, the neck of the gourd is carved for aesthetic reasons. On the other end, two reed or bamboo pipes are connected. These are known as the jivala. One of the pipes has seven holes and plays the melody; the other pipe is for drone. The jivala is fitted to the gourd with beeswax, which can be adjusted for pitch modification.

Function

Indian musical practices often coincide with religious ideals. An example would be the comprehensive practice of mantra incantation, which, can be defined as meaningful and/or meaningless syllables used to create prayer to a supernatural force or deity. The pungi, or Indian snake charmer, is believed to be one of the many avenues in which one can communicate with the gods through devotional genres. The pungi is played with no pauses, so the pungi players use a technique called circular breathing.