The Importance of the Veena in Carnatic Music

The Veena, also referred to as Saraswati Veena, is one of the most ancient string

instruments of India. It is a delicate, beautiful instrument that, in the hands of a

master, can express all the nuances of Carnatic vocal and instrumental music.

History of the Veena

The veena has a recorded history that dates back to 1500 BC, the Vedic period. It is

also referenced in the ancient works from the Tamil land, such as the Silappadikaram

of 2 nd Century AD. In Tamil isai the veena is referred to as the yazh. The yazh is

classified into four types, namely, peri yazh, magara yazh, sakota yazh and sengottai

yazh. This classification is based on their number of strings built onto each of these

yazh, which were 21, 19, 14 and 7, respectively. Of these, the sengottai yazh made out

of some type of red wood having seven strings seems to be the closest to the current

veena.

Physical Features of the Veena

The present form of the Saraswati veena with twenty-four fixed frets evolved in

Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, during the reign of Raghunatha Nayak in 1600 AD. It is for

this reason that this veena is sometimes called the Thanjavur veena or the Raghunatha

veena. Before this time, the number of frets on the veena was fewer and were also

movable. Today, several regions in South India make excellent veenas.

The construction of the veena is a complex, yet precise process. The veena, as we use

it today, has a hollow stem made of resonant wood, about thirty-two inches long and

four inches wide. It houses twenty-four brass frets embedded in beeswax and is set

on two chambers, the main sound chamber that is made out of wood and a secondary

resonator that is made of a gourd. It has four main strings to produce the melody and

three strings on the side to maintain the drone and tala, the rhythm. The index and middle

fingers of the right hand are used to pluck the melody strings, while the little finger is

used to stroke the tala strings. The index and middle fingers of the left hand are used

to glide over the frets and deflect the strings.

Unique Aspects of the Veena

Veena is a majestic musical instrument that holds a place of pride in the South Indian

classical genre. It has several unique features. Firstly, the gap between the frets on the

fretboard is concave in shape, which enables the pulling of the strings to produce the

gamakas, the characteristic ornamentations of Carnatic music. While this is done, one

can observe the extent of deflections needed to produce the gamakas and visualise the

science and grammar of music in action.

Another unique aspect of the veena is the way it helps the veena player to keep time

cycles. Most other instruments need the use of both hands to produce the melody and

hence, keeping the time cycles, the tala, using the hands is not possible. The veena

facilitates keeping the tala while playing the melody by the use of the tala strings. The

musical phrases are produced with the index and middle fingers of both hands while

the little finger of the right hand keeps the time by stroking the tala strings.

Next, several interesting and unique features are built into the design of the veena

itself. The hollow chamber of the veena, the kudam, enables the sound to resonate

from within, and this adds depth to the string vibrations. The string terminations at

both ends are curved and not sharp. Also, the frets have much more curvature than

any other instrument. Unlike in guitar, the string does not have to be pushed down to

the very base of the neck. Hence, no rattling sound is generated.

This design enables continuous control over the string tension, which is important for the glides and produces more harmonics than any other instrument. Moreover, the beeswax that

houses the frets absorb any noise, and this ensures a greater clarity of the sound.

Finally, the feature that distinguishes the music of the veena from all other

instruments is the tanam playing, which is the improvisation of the raga with an

implied rhythm. The stroking of the tala strings of the veena during tanam adds a third

dimension and produces a grand aural effect.

The Different Schools of Veena Music

To the lay listener, all veena recitals may sound alike, but the discerning ear can distinguish different styles of veena playing. The technique of veena playing today can be broadly divided into three schools, namely the Thanjavur, Mysore and Andhra schools. Each school has a proud heritage of its own, and there are purists even today who zealously guard their precious tradition. However, due to constant exposure of each school to the others via radio, television and other modern media, there is a merging of styles that is surely evolving.

The Thanjavur school aims at reproducing the vocal, the gayaki, style as closely as possible. This approach has been developed right from the heyday of Thanjavur court of the Kings and has been shaped and polished to perfection. This gayaki style stresses the importance of reproducing on the veena the pronunciation and accent on each syllable of the lyrics as if they are sung. Raga alapana of this style is replete with characteristic gamakas. The pace is leisurely. It is a stately and dignified style with an everlasting appeal. The Karaikudi style is a branch of the Thanjavur style, developed by the Karaikudi brothers, who lived in the first half of the twentieth century.

The Mysore school developed in a quite different direction. It focuses on bringing out the instrumental excellence of the veena. This school has a distinct North Indian touch, due to the proximity of Karnataka’s northern districts to Maharashtra and the ensuing influence. It is a very pleasing and reposeful style.

The Andhra School of veena playing can be distinguished by the variety of plucking techniques used. High-speed passages are employed rigorously in this school. Veyisadakam, which involves practicing a set of exercises a thousand times, and repeating it

from the beginning if any mistake is made during the practice, is a notable practice followed by this school.

Continuing the Precious Legacy

Veena music has been fostered in South India by many famous veena players. Some

of the notable maestros from the early part of the last century are the Karaikudi Brothers,

Veena Dhanammal, Veena Seshanna and Subbanna, Veena Venkatramana Das followed by Kalyanakrishna Bhagavatar, K.S. Narayanaswamy, Mysore Doreswamy Iyengar, S. Balachander, Emani Shankara Sastry, Pichumani Iyer, Chitti Babu, Ranganayaki Rajagopalan, Trivandrum Venkataraman and Rajeswari Padmanabhan in recent times.

The patronage for the veena is dwindling, and this is acutely felt in the last few decades. As a result, the number of performers, teachers and artisans is on the decline. It is the responsibility of veena practitioners, music institutions and organisations and interested audience to actively contribute to the propagation of veena music to ensure a well-deserved pedestal in the Indian music scenario for this ancient instrument! It is our bounden duty to preserve this divine instrument in all its glory for posterity!