Dilruba; fiddle

Mayuri or ta'us, a dilruba (fiddle) in the shape of a peacock. The wooden head and neck of the peacock are detached in performance. The slightly waisted body has a white (goat?)skin soundtable. The long wooden neck has a convex fingerboard with sixteen tied brass frets, and a double nut of ivory or bone. The peg-box has two front entrant and two side entrant pegs, of light brown wood with lathe turned heads for four wire playing strings. Attached to the side of the neck is an auxilliary pegboard for the fourteen sympathetic strings, fixed with smaller front entrant pegs, with spear-shaped heads. The top and bottom of the auxilliary pegbox are carved into the shape of peacocks' heads. The playing strings pass over the top of a bone bridge; the sympathetic strings pass through holes in the bridge. The strings are fixed to two endpins on either side of the bridge at the base of the resonator. The peacock body is colourfully decorated throughout, its head blue, the inside of the casing red in colour. The fingerboard and pegbox are painted with flowers.