Theektara (Bengali:একতারা,Nepali:एकतारे; literally 'one-string', also called,ektar,golkiNepali:गोल्) not to be confused with theIktara, is a one-stringed musical instrument used in thetraditional music ofBengal,[1] and used in modern-day music ofBangladesh, andeastern India.[1]
Two-stringed versions are calleddotara (two strings), a name which alsoapplies to annother instrument of the same name.
In origin, theektara was a regularstring instrument ofBauls and is plucked with one finger. Theektara is a dronelute consisting of a gourd resonator covered with skin, through which a bamboo neck is inserted. It is used in parts of India and Nepal today byYogis and wandering holy men to accompany their singing and prayers. In Nepal, the instrument accompanies the singing of theRamayana andMahabharata.[2]
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There are three other instruments used in South Asia which sometimes go by the same name as the ektara but are not related. One form resembles a lute. To make that version, a bamboo stick (90 cm long) is inserted through the side of a wooden bowl (called a "tumbo") and the top of the bowl is covered with deerskin. The instrument has a single string running from a peg at the top, down the length of the stick-neck, across a bridge on the deerhide soundboard, and is tied at the "spike" where the stick pokes through the bowl. The instrument's string is plucked with the musician's index fingernail.[3][2]
A second instrument (the gopichanta) uses a drum-like body, a one-piece bamboo neck consisting of a pegbox and two laths formed out of a carved section of hollow bamboo (with a wooden peg on the side of the pegbox at the upper end), as well as a skin soundboard with a string attached in the centre. The two bamboo laths are attached to the side of the drum shell and the string goes from the soundboard to a peg at the end of the neck where the laths join the pegbox. This version of the instrument may be played either by plucking the string or by tapping the drumhead. Squeezing and releasing the bamboo laths changes the tension of the string and bends the pitch down and back up. This form is associated with theBauls of West Bengal, as well as theTharu people ofUdayapur District, Nepal.
A third instrument sometimes calledektara, also called thetuṇtuṇe, consists of a drum with a stick attached along the outer wall.[4] A string runs from a hole in the drumhead to the a power in the end of the stick. It is played to accompany song, held under the left arm, "tuned to the tonic" and played for rhythm and as a drone. This is an instrument of a of Western India, used by "Hindu Sadhus and Islamic Sufi saints" and byBhil,Kukna andWarli tribes.[5]
Grove Music Online describes the playing of an ektara as: "The ektārā player holds his instrument upright, gripping the neck just above the resonator and plucking the playing string or strings with the index finger of the same hand. If he is dancing, he supports the gourd resonator with his other hand, in which he carries clusters of small bells which sound as he beats his hand against the gourd."[6] Pressing the two halves of the neck together loosens the string, thus lowering its pitch. The modulation of the tone with each slight flexing of the neck gives the ektara its distinctive sound. There are no markings or measurements to indicate what pressure will produce what note, so the pressure is adjusted by ear.[7] The various sizes ofektara are soprano, tenor, and bass. The bassektara, sometimes called adotara often has two strings[8] (as literally implied bydo, 'two').
The ektara is a common instrument inBaul music from Bengal. Some controversy has arisen in recent years over the adoption and alleged corruption of Baul music by popular bands and films in Bengal. It has become common to mix traditional instruments like the ektara with more modern sounds in an attempt to appeal to a wide audience, which according toPurna Das Baul is "destroying the true beauty" of Baul music.[9]
The ektara is commonly used inkirtan chanting, a Hindu devotional practice of singing the divine names and mantras in an ecstaticcall and response format.[10] The ektara is used by Sadhus (wandering holy men) forSufi chanting, as well as by theBauls.[11]
The use of a stringed drone instrument to accompany the voice in religious settings can be documented in images as far back as the 4th-5th century, when a singer was painted in theAjanta Caves. He was singing or chanting toIndra, and was accompanied by a one-stringed zither that is structurally the same as thealapini vina.
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