Vichitra veena

The vichitra veena (Sanskrit: विचित्र वीणा) is a plucked string instrument used in Hindustani music. It is similar to the Carnatic gottuvadhyam (chitra vina). It has no frets and is played with a slide.

The structure

The Vichitra Veena is the modern form of ancient Ektantri Veena. It is made of a broad, fretless, horizontal arm or crossbar (dand) around three feet long and six inches wide, with two large resonating gourds (tumba), which are inlaid with ivory and attached underneath at either end. The narrow ends of the instrument are fashioned into peacock heads, the national bird of India. Bold text

The strings

There are four main playing strings and five secondary strings (chikaris), which are played openly with the little finger for a drone effect. Underneath them are 13 sympathetic strings tuned to the notes of the appropriate raag. The veena has a five-octave range. Two plectrums (mizrab) identical to those used for sitar are worn on the middle and index fingers of the right hand to pluck the strings, and a glass ball (batta) is moved with the left across the main strings to create melody (there can be a distance of up to two inches between notes). Coconut oil is put on the strings to minimize the friction of the sliding hand holding the batta.

The veena was often used to accompany the Dhrupad style of singing and this did not allow for much intricacy or embellishment around the notes. It was rescued from oblivion by Lalmani Misra who developed technique of playing and created Misrabani compositions; his son Gopal Shankar Misra made the repertoire universal.

• Shri Brahm Sarup Singh son of Late Shri Harnam Singh , the renowned player of vichitra veena , was born in Amritsar on 18th august 1940. In his early age he was trained by his father in music who was the disciple of Ustad Abdul Aziz Khan of patiala.Shri Brahm Sarup Singh has participated in several music conferences in the North and has been broadcasting from All India Radio since 1958.'Khayal Ang' is the main feature of his playing of Vichitra Veena Recital.
• Shri Anurag Singh son of Late Shri Brahm Sarup Singh was born in Amritsar on 2nd september 1966 . In his early age he was trained by his father in music who was the famous vichitra veena player. His grand father Late Shri Harnam Singh was also a vichitra veena player and disciple of Ustad Abdul Aziz Khan of patiala.
• Pt. Gopal Krishan Sharma, disciple of Pt.Nand Kishore Sharma. A deep understanding of the raga and a depth presentation by weaving of various intricate musical patterns and its rythemic synchronisation is his speciality.
• Pt. Shri Krishan Sharma One of the leading Vichitra Veena player and leading Guitar Player of India , Son & Diciple of Pandit Gopal Krishan Sharma. He is known for his Gayaki ang and Laykari.
• Lalmani Misra A perfectionist, he modified the instrument for better quality of renditions of Khayals and Thumris. He even played Dadras on the Veena. He created numerous Ragas, Madhukali being the most famous. He was inspired by Ustad Abdul Aziz Khan.
• Gopal Shankar Misra Son and student of Lalmani Mishra.
• Dr.Radhika umdekar Budhkar (The First ever Lady Vichitra veena player)
• Fateh Ali Khan Qawwal

Other types

It is one of the three other major types of veena popular today. The others include Saraswati veena and rudra veena. Out of these the rudra and vichitra Veena are used in northern Indian classical music. There are just a handful of people playing the same Vichitra Veena with a minor change in structure in the South with names differing as Chitra Veena, Vichitra Veena, Gotu Vadyam etc. Ravi Kiran, Vijay Venkateshwar, Durga Prasad, Ganesh, are the most popular of them playing Vichitra Veena. But the most popular Veena in the South is Saraswati veena and is used in Carnatic music, the classical music of South India. Dr. Lalmani Misra in his Bharatiya Sangeet Vadya mentions that there are forty nine types of Veena-s mentioned in ancient literature about which little besides the name is known. Vichitra Veena, along with Rudra Veena, Tanjauri or Saraswati Veena and Gottu Vadhyam has been nominated as Indian entry for inscription in UNESCO's Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

See also

• Hindustani music

References

• Vichitra vina page
• Online Music Education Articles on Vichitra Veena