Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
Abstract :
Ekatantri Vina is a one-stringed fretless tubular zither from
ancient India whose descriptions and representations are
variously found in musicological texts and sculptures,
respectively, between 10th and 15th century AD. The present
work is a first of its kind attempt to study these sources to
understand the precise structural and material nature of the
Vina. In particular, we use the five Sanskrit texts where
Ekatantri Vina is unambiguously described, and prepare
accurate computed aided models of various parts of the Vina
as well as describe their assembly. We also compare how the
construction and the material of the Vina differed between
various texts which span five centuries. Our work is
motivated, on one hand, from an aim to establish historicity
of certain unique design features of the present day Indian
stringed instruments and, on the other hand, to initiate a
systematic study towards reconstruction of ancient Indian
instruments. Our investigations also provide grounds for
further study in acoustics, mechanics, and materials, all in
the context of ancient Indian science.