CHENNAI : When the audience gathered for the virtual Library Talk by Dakshina Chitra Heritage Museum expected Jyothika KP to pick up a tanpura and play a song by tuning and twisting its strings, they were quite surprised to learn the fascinating account of how this instrument was made from a vegetable. When Jyothika, an intern at the museum, came across the instrument — made of pumpkin — for the first time, she tracked down its legacy. Giving an introduction to the instrument she began by saying, “The name tanpura is derived from the Sanskrit words ‘taana’ and ‘pura.’ ‘Taana’ means musical phrase and ‘pura’ means full. It is used as a drone instrument in Indian classical music.”
The pumpkin tales
Explaining the tanpura-making, whose history dates back 175 years, Jyothika said, “The tumba which is the soul of a tanpura, is made from a special variety of pumpkin which grows in abundance at Pandharpur, a village situated on the banks of the Krishna river in Maharashtra. These inedible pumpkins are specially grown for instrument-making. It takes more than nine months to have fully grown and naturally dried pumpkins.”
Once a pumpkin is selected for the instrument, it is hung to dry and harden for a year. She continued, “It is cut from the top, cleaned, and filled with water for two days and then drained to make it soft so that it can be tweaked to get in perfect shape.”
The top of the tumba for the neck, known as the gullu, connects it to the rest of the instrument and must be fitted perfectly to ensure the best sound. It takes a day to carve and shape the tabli. “Shaping the pieces alone can take up to 12 days. Polishing, which is done by hand, is a time-consuming process; it takes two days to more than a week. The fittings of the tanpura are: khunti (pegs), targahan (nuts), javari (bridge), and strings. The wood used for pegs is preferably seasoned rosewood, and the bridge and nuts are preferably made out of a stag horn. Then, the tanpura is decorated with fine inlay work and wooden leaf patterns. There are four metal strings — three are made of steel and the fourth and lowest one is of brass. The most important part of the tanpura is a wide bridge made out of different materials, ebony wood or ivory, stag horn, or even camel bone. It is carved at right angles to the strings and slopes in the direction of their length,” she explained.
Historical relevance
When history emphasises that all the string instruments originated from the ancient veena, Jyothika mentioned that the tanpura’s and sitar’s origin is from tritantri veena. She shared, “Tanpura in India was first recorded in the early 11th century during the occupation of Punjab by Mohammed Ghazanavi. According to Allyn Miner, one of the earliest Persian chroniclers in Delhi, cites its reference in about 1200 AD.” She also explained the situation in 1650 AD, when the musical texts Sangeet Parijat and Sangita Sara spoke about the evolution of two types of Tanpura, both made of wood.
Even though pumpkin tanpuras were a later development, it still continues to be an amusement among the musical instruments. Through her lecture, Jyothika urged the audience to look into any object with a historical eye as you never know what story it has to tell.