Gottuvadhyam

Chitravina

Chitravina
String instrument
Other names	gotuvadyam, gottuvadyam, chitra veena, chitraveena, chitra vina
Classification	String instruments
Related instruments
Vichitra veena Surbahar Rudra veena Saraswati veena Sarod Sursingar Tambura

N. Ravikiran (center) playing the navachitravina.

The chitravina (also known as chitra veena, chitraveena, chitra vina, hanumad vina, or mahanataka vina, is a 20 or 21-string fretless lute for Carnatic music. Around late 1800s and early 1900s, it started to be known by another name, Gotuvadyam (Tamil: கோடடு வாத்தியம்; often misspelt as gottuvadyam, gottuvadhyam, kottuvadyam etc.), which was bestowed upon it by Sakha Rama Rao from Thanjavur, who was responsible for bringing it back to the concert scene. Today it is played mainly in South India, though its origins can be traced back to Bharata's Natya Shastra, where it is mentioned as a 7 string fretless instrument.

It has undergone numerous developments and is today among the more prominent solo instruments in Carnatic music. It is also often seen in collaborative world music concerts and north-south Indian jugalbandis. The fretless nature of the instrument makes it the closest instrument to vocal standards. There are six main strings used for melody that pass over the top of the instrument, three drone strings, and about twelve sympathetic strings running parallel and below the main strings.

The approach to tuning is in some ways similar to the sitar, in others similar to the Saraswati veena, but in many ways is unique. It is played with a slide like a Hawaiian guitar and the north Indian vichitra veena. The first two fingers on the right hand are usually used with plectra to pluck the metal melody strings while a cylindrical block made out of hardwood (often ebony), buffalo horn, glass, steel, or teflon held by the left hand is used to slide along the strings to vary the pitch. Sakha Rama Rao used to refer to the slide as 'gotu' and hence the name, gotu vadyam.

The chitravina was popularised in South India by Sakharam Rao of Tiruvidaimarudur. It was later taken up and further popularised by Gotuvadyam Narayan Iyengar, who was a palace musician of the old state of Mysore. His grandson Chitravina N. Ravikiran (b. 1967) plays the instrument and is the inventor of a variant, the navachitravina. Other exponents of the instrument include Budaloor Krishnamurthy Shastri, A Narayana Iyer, Mannargudi Savithri Ammal, Allam Koteeshwara Rao, M V Varahaswami, Allam Durgaprasad and Chitravina Ganesh. Seetha Doraiswamy, known more as a jal tarang artiste, plays both the Chitraveena and the Balakokila, a smaller version of the Chitraveena.

References

• Natya Shastra, Bharata (2nd Cent BC-2nd Cent AD)
• Sangita Ratnakara, Sarangadeva
• Chitravina N Ravikiran website
• Journals of The Music Academy, Madras
• South Indian Music, Prof Sambamurthy

External links

• Chitravina page from N. Ravikiran site
• Reference from P. Ganesh's site