Gandharvas are divine musicians, singers and dancers. They are said to be very handsome and often have the divine beauties, apsaras, for companions. They are grouped in tribes and, as per the Atharvaveda, there are more than 6,000 of them. Their parentage has been given variously as Prajapati, Brahma and Rishi Kashyapa.
The foremost among the Gandharvas was Tumburu, who had the head of a horse and the body of a human. He used to sing the praises of Vishnu in the courts of Indra and Kubera. The musical instrument tambura or tanpura is named after him. He had a rivalry with Muni Narada, himself an accomplished singer. Tumburu was the teacher of Apsara Rambha. Once, King Pururavas pointed out a flaw in Rambha’s dancing. When Tumburu doubted his knowledge, Pururavas claimed that his wife, Apsara Urvashi, had taught him more about the divine dances than he knew. An angry Tumburu cursed that he would be separated from Urvashi. The Gandharvas kidnapped Urvashi, thus bringing the curse to fruition.
In Ramayana, a story is told of a Gandharva named Vishvavasu, who attacked Indra and was cursed to become a rakshasa. He roamed on earth as Rakshasa Kabandha and obstructed Rama and Lakshmana from searching for the abducted Sita in the jungle, whereupon they severed his arms and cremated him. As per the curse, Vishvavasu resumed his Gandharva form and directed them to Rishyamukha Parvata.
When the Pandavas were living in exile in the forest, Duryodhana and Karna planned to humiliate them by showing off their riches. Under the excuse of inspecting cattle, they went to the forest with their families. They wanted to set up camp near a lake, but Gandharva King Chitrasena was already camped there with his companions. A battle between the two sides ensued in which the Gandharvas defeated and captured the Kauravas. Yudhishthira sent Arjuna to rescue the Kauravas, which he did. Chitrasena was so impressed with Arjuna that he granted him sammohan-astra, which could put opponents to sleep. The same Chitrasena later taught Arjuna music and dance when he went to swarga; skills that Arjuna put to use during agyatvas—a year of incognito living.
Out of the eight classical types of marriages recognised in ancient Hindu texts, one is Gandharva vivaha. This was a straightforward kind of marriage by the mutual consent and acceptance of the bride and the groom, and did not require any religious ceremonies, participation of families or the presence of witnesses. This is how Dushyanta and Shakuntala were married. This form of marriage later fell out of favour, but survived among tribals living in remote areas. It is now re-emerging in a modern form in Western societies, and even in urban India.