Rajasthan’s folk songs are very famous all over the world & still now at all royal forts of Rajasthan we can see all these instruments in use by Folk singers. Most of the foreigners love to hear these instruments which is rarely used in other states of India. We can see these instruments commonly people singing the folk songs at Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisamer, Badmer, Pokran, Jaipur, Kumbalgarh, Ameth Fort, Mehrangarh fort, Chittorgarh fort, and many more places in Rajasthan.
The Musical instruments of Rajasthan includes:
A khartal or Kartal is a striking instrument of India made up of thin wooden pieces. Khartal is an ancient instrument mainly used in devotional / folk songs in Rajasthan. The Name is derived from the Hindi words ‘kara’ means hand and ‘tala’ means music generated by clapping instrument.
The Dholak, the twin-faced drum is a traditional Rajasthani rhythm instrument. Dholak is a side drum, bored out of solid wood. The dholak’s right-hand head is a simple membrane, while the left-hand head is of a greater diameter and has a special coating, a mixture of tar, clay, and sand (dholak masala) which lowers the pitch.
- Morchang :
is an instrument mainly used in Rajasthan. It as the history of 1500 years used in folk songs of Rajasthan. It consists of a metal ring in the shape of a horseshoe with two parallel forks which form the frame, and a metal tongue in the middle, between the forks, fixed to the ring at one end and free to vibrate at the other. The metal tongue is bent at the free end in a plane perpendicular to the circular ring so that it can be struck and is made to vibrate. This bent part is called the trigger
- Ravanahatta : A ravanahatha is an ancient bowed, stringed instrument, used in India & called it as an ancestor of the violin.
The Sindhi sarangi, also known as the sing, It is a mostly used to play folk songs in North India mostly In Rajasthan by the Langa & mangier community of folk musicians
One of the rarest folk musical instruments of the world today played by “Manganiyar” caste musicians in Rajasthan.
It a folk musical instrument of Rajasthan known as ghara made up of mud.
similar to the conventional two-headed hitting instrument- Damru, Bhapang is an unconventional folk string instrument from Rajasthan. As strange the look of the instrument is, it doesn’t beat the unique sound it produces.
Dedh Satara :
Naag Phani is a tribal folk musical instrument of Rajasthan Province from India. Naag means snake. Its a wind instrument which belongs to the family of trumpets.
This hitting instrument is very peculiar to the regions of Rajasthan. The Deru produces rhythmic beats in tune with the musical performance.