Dilruba

The Dilruba is a fiddle-like instrument which is played with a bow. The Dilruba is carved from wood, has a goatskin soundboard, and has main and sympathetic strings. A bow is drawn across the strings which cause them to resonate, and the bridges are moveable to adjust the tone.

"Dil" means heart and "rubha" means enchanter. "That which enchants the heart" is what this instrument is named after. It is truly a magical instrument. It is considered a mixture of two instruments the sitar and sarangi. It is bowed as the other hand slides all the necessary musical melodies with rich gamakas (ornamentations). Although it has a sitar type fret layout, the string is not pulled to give meend (glissando). As a matter of fact, the string rarely touches the frets as one plays.