It is
not known when exactly the early musical instruments
came into existence in India but they find mention
in several ancient texts like the
i style="mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">Upanishads, Samhitas,
Valmiki's
Ramayana, Bhagwad Gita and the Sangam classics.
Many of the instruments mentioned in these texts
date back to 5000 BC. It is widely believed that the
earliest known Indian instruments evolved from the
Dhanuryantram
(bow and arrow) used by primitive tribes for
hunting, as also to signal the advent of the enemy.
Descriptions in the
Ramayana
and the
Mahabharat of the reverberating sounds of Rama's
bow Sharang
and Arjun's bow
Gandeeva,
which are said to have demoralized the enemy camp,
lend color to this inference. It is believed that
this particular sound later inspired the design and
shape of the bowed instruments used by primitive
tribes. Various types of crude drums and other
musical instruments have been discovered from
pre-historic excavations indicating that the use of
music and musical instruments was quite prevalent
during pre-historic times. Excavations at the Indus
Valley site have revealed many kinds of musical
instruments.
These were mainly made of bamboo, bone and
animal skins and bear close resemblance to modern
veena and
mridangam.
Many Greaco-Buddhist sculptures belonging to the
period 5th Century B.C. to 2nd Century
A.D. also depict a wealth of string, wind and
percussion instruments.
According to the
Natyasastra
of Bharatha, there are four classes of musical
instruments:
Tata or
Tantu (stringed),
Avanaddha (percussion or drums),
Ghana (bells, cymbals and gongs), and
Sushira (wind). While some variations in classifications have been
proposed over the centuries, the system of Bharatha
has survived to date. The classes of instruments are
divided as follows: 1.Ghana Vadya (Idiophones)
2.Avanaddha Vadya (Membranophones) 3.Sushira Vadya
(Aerophones) 4. Tata Vadya (Chordophones).
Flute, Nadaswaram,
Veena, Gootuvadhyam, Thavil, Mridangam and Plain
drum are ancient Indian musical instruments while
Harmonium,
Sarod, Shehnai, Sitar, Tabla and
Violin are
musical instruments of foreign origin. Veena, Flute,
Mridangam, Ghatam, chenda, maddalam, Edakka,
Nadaswaram, Khunjira, Tambura, Gottuvadhyam,
Talam and
the Morsing (or
mukha veena) are popular Carnatic Musical instruments. Violin
is also popular in Carnatic music concerts.
