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Sitar

The sitar is a fretted long-necked lute made with gourd resonators ("tumba"). This example is a seven string lute with a single flat tumba, and a one-piece neck and pegbox made of wood (usually tun or teak wood), covered with a wooden top and fretboard respectively. At the present state, the instrument has ten gut-tied, adjustable gut frets, of which three have a T-shaped wood fret, indicating that the frets are of wood bars tied to the neck with gut string. Five wooden pegs with butterfly-shaped knobs still remain, of which two are located along the side of the neck in lower positions. There are no strings (usually of metal wire), and the jawari bridge is also missing. There are two camel bone nuts and two brass posts on the fretboard for the lower side strings. There is a wooden tailpiece on bottom and a carved wooden feet/rest along the side of the resonator.

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  • Decorative elements:Five carved leaves (patta) on the back of the gourd and additional carved foliage on heel (gulu).
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  • Hornbostel-Sachs category:321.321 Necked bowl lutes
  • Repository:Swindon Museum & Art Gallery
  • Measurements:Height: 1430; Width: 380mm; Depth: 180mm