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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 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.
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