List of Nepali musical instruments
This list contains "traditional" musical instruments used in Nepal. Instruments overlap with nearby countries, including India and Tibet. An example is the Sarangi, a common bow Indian instrument. Although the Nepali people have their own local variant Sarangi (Nepal), both instruments are known in Nepal. Some of the instrument are madal, maddlam, dholak. In such cases where instruments were imported in ancient times, or when both varieties are played in Nepal, both can be included on the list. New instruments of Nepali origin may be included, as well as modern recreations of " extinct " instruments. Modern imports such as the western guitar are not included.
There are hundreds of Nepali musical instruments and they are not standardized. When considering seemingly identical instruments, the languages, region of origin, musician's ethnicity and local traditions may affect the instrument's identity and how it is played.
Research avenues
Many Nepali folk instruments or lokabaja date back into prehistory or inaccessible history. General histories of musical instruments, such as History of Musical Instruments by Kurt Sachs, have little to say directly about Nepal. Sachs focused two chapters on India, and when addressing the ranasrnga, on Northern India. When instruments used in Nepal were included in Sachs' book, such as drums with hooked sticks, the dameru, the lute with a barb on its sides, the sarangi, and the ranasrnga, the organizational focus was on India, or "North India."JSTORE, an online repository of academic journals has articles. An example by Thomas O. Ballinger and Purna Harsha Bajracharya, Nepalese Musical Instruments, Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, Published by: The University of Chicago Press, Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 398–416. Thomas compares the instruments he found with that found in books by A. Campbell and Daniel Wright. Gives descriptions of instruments.
The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments is a more comprehensive resource, with many instruments having been documented by ethnomusicologists. Random entries for Nepali instruments include Arbajo, Damaha, the Kingdom of Nepal and the ghanta. This resource requires either a subscription, access to a university library, or purchase of the $995 set of books.
The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Volume 5: South Asia, the Indian subcontinent does address Nepal directly in a chapter.
Museum and museum catalogs: In 1995, a local project was begun in Nepal, to document the folk instruments there. Ram Prasad Kadel began to visit different parts of his country and collect examples of instruments that he found. He talked to musicians and made recordings. In 1997, he founded the Nepali Folk Instruments Museum, which opened to the public in 2002 in Kathmandu. Kadel wrote two books, catalogues of some of the museum's instruments. Nepali Lokbaja or Folk Musical Instruments of Nepal was published in 2004. The Nepali-language book contains entries and images for 375 instruments. The language made the contents inaccessible to most readers outside Nepal. In 2007 Kadel's Musical Instruments of Nepal was published, an English-language book with 362 Nepali instruments and more detailed pictures. The book is the only book in the English language whose focus is Nepali folk musical instruments. Today his museum has more than 40,000 hours of recordings.
Membranophones
Multiple heads nested
- Tri Taal, block with nested drum-heads
Idiophones
Bells
- Yakuchaa Babhu, bell
- Ghote, circlet of bells on a leather thong.
| Name in English | Name in Nepali | Description | Ethnic Connections | Town / Region | Picture |
| Ghanta or Gan | Ceremonial bells. Hindu temples generally have one metal bell hanging at the entrance and devotees ring the bell while entering the temple. | ||||
| Dibya Ghanta | दिव्य घण्ट | Very large bells were made for the three Newar kingdoms. The dibya ghantas each hung from a wooden crossbeam by very thick chains. They were located in Kathmandu Durbar Square, Bhaktapur Durbar Square, and Patan Durbar Square, Lalipur. The dibya ghantas were used during evenings in prayer to Degu Teleju Bhadani, the patron goddess of the Newar people of Nepal. | |||
| Small Ghanta | Small bells at a temple, often outside. Bells often made of alloy of lead, copper, zinc, nickel and chromium. | Hindus | |||
| Phye Ghan | फ्ये गँ: | Small bell with a wind-activated clapper. | |||
| Mate Ghanta | Small bells suspended in circle under large bell with clapper to catch wind; a windchime. | ||||
| Name in English | Name in Nepali | Description | Ethnic Connections | Town / Region | Picture |
| Ghalting | घाल्टिङ | Bell played in religious worship and at the temple. "Pure and holy because it is rung only during worship." Rung before rice planting at Jaatri ceremony. Brass bell, about 10 centimeters high x 6 centimeters diameter. | Dhimal people. | ||
| Dilbu | Also called ghanta, drilbou, and tribu. Brass hand-bell used in Tantric Buddhism. About 18 centimeters long x 10 centimeters diameter. The handle is in form of "Bajra" or Vajra, a type of ceremonial club with a ribbed spherical head. Handle represents male, bell represents female. | Tantric Buddhists | |||
| Baisnava ghantra | Bell of brass or pancha dhatu alloy with Shesha Naga on top. Shesa Naga figure may resemble lotus leaf. Played while worshipping Vishnu. | Vaishnava Hindus. Also other Hindu societies during. | |||
| Ghunguru | घुँघुरा | Small bell about 1 cm or smaller, ball shaped, iron ball inside. Can be sewn onto cloth or on string. | |||
| Chaanp | Ankle bells. Three rows of 9 ghungroo sewn onto thick cloth, worn by female dancers. | ||||
| Kaalwaal khuruwaa or Kaankara | ? or | Hollow metal anklets with iron balls inside, make noise when moving feet, worn by female dancers. Tube is about 12 cm in diameter. | Mech people, Koche | Jhapa District | |
| Name in English | Name in Nepali | Description | Ethnic Connections | Town / Region | Picture |
| Khachhad Ghanta | Mule bell Bell hung on the neck of the leading mule while packing loads in the hills. Thin iron, about 20 centimeters long x 13 centimeters diameter. Other mules wear smaller. | ||||
| Ghodi ghanta | Horse bell. Brass bell worn on the necks of horses grazing, to help locate them in the mountains. About 7.5 centimeters length x 7.5 centimeters diameter. Bell removed during horseback riding. Brass bell, very loud. | ||||
| Ghamdo | घाँडो | Iron horse bell. Used in hunting; hunters would follow the sound of the bell. | Sunuwar people | ||
| Gau ghanta | Iron bells worn by the head cow bell. Bell worn by goats that are dedicated to a god or goddess. A warning not to harm the animal to avoid sin. | ||||
| Bayal ghanta | Wooden bells hung around the necks of oxen pulling a cart. Rectangular, about 15 centimeters tall x 20 centimeters wide with two or four wooden clappers inside. Made of white teak or Trewia nudiflora | Tharu people | |||
| Kole or Ko La | कोले | Water buffalo bells, worn around neck of buffalo. Rectangular bell with sloped roof, made of thin sheets of iron, with bone or iron clapper. About 5 inches long x 4 inches wide. | Midwestern region, Terai |
Cymbals
| Name in English | Name in Nepali | Description | Ethnic Connections | Town / Region | Picture |
| Jhyālī or Jhyamta or jhurma | Jhyali, Jhurma | These instruments have blended together when Nepali people have reported on what instruments to include in the Panche baja, although there is a difference between the Jhyali and Jhurma, noted in Kadel's Musical Instrument's of Nepal. The cymbals are about 20-26 inches across, and have a boss about 6 cm high. "Held horizontally and the stroked across each other to produce a distinct sustained chattering sound." The jhali may accompany Naya Khin. | Newar | Kathmandu Valley | |
| Baboocha | Thinner and larger than Tah. "accompanies Dapha Khin, Pachima, Koncha Khin, Dholak..." | ||||
| Bhusyah | भूस्याः | Larger thinner than tah and baboocha, accompanies dhimay and dhah. 23 cm diameter. | |||
| Chhusyah or Sichhya | छुस्या: | Brass cymbals like baboocha but larger, about 40 cm across; accompanies Naya Khin and Nagara. Thin metal. | Newar, Khadgi | ||
| mujura | Small bronze cymbals connected by a cord. Similar to tah | ||||
| Taa | Brass cymbals, about 25 cm diameter, played in conjunction with Chyaabrung. Used by young unmarried Limbu women. Photo of Rai woman with cymbals placed here; the Rai and Limbu peoples are both Kirats. | Limbu people | Eastern Region | ||
| Tah or taah | Small cymbals connected by a cord. Controls the music's rhythm. "Accompanies Dhah, Dapha Khin, Paschima, Koncha Khin, Naya Khin. Used in Charya dances and songs. Similar to mujura. | Newar, Buddhists | |||
| Tinchhu | Brass cymbals about 15cm across. Thick. Used by the Newar to chant and worship, during processions. Gives beat to other instruments in traditional dances. | Newar | Kathmandu Valley | ||
Gongs
- TainNain. Gong.
- Tinimuni. Metal percussion triangle.
Chordophones
| Name in English | Name in Nepali | Description | Ethnic Connections | Town / Region | Picture |
| Aarbajo | आरबाजो | Plucked lute. Very similar to other Asian lutes including Dramyen of Tibet, Pamiri rubab of East Tajikistan, dranyen of Bhutan, and the rubab of Tashkent. These instruments all have the hollow going from the bowl up into the neck, extensions outward from the neck. | Gandarbha | ||
| Dakkari | डक्कारी | It is a fiddle about 45 centimeters long, carved from a single piece of wood, with two sound chambers covered with goatskin. The instrument has six strings on it. The bow is made with hair from horse tail dipped into pine tar or rubbed with rosin. | Terrai area, Janakpur zone | ||
| Dhodro Banam | Sometimes known as the santali banam. 2-chambered, bowed string instrument made of Guloic wood, with animal skin soundboard. Played to accompany courtship and ritual dances, dhodron banam are frequently sculpted to depict important scenes and motifs from Santāl life and mythology. | Santal people | Northeastern Region | ||
| Ḍōṅmēna or Dongmen | 6-8 string lute, related to tungna about 78–90 cm long, carved shardul as part of peghead. Accompanies folk dances. A shardul is a mythical creature, part lion and part something else. | Sherpas | eastern Himalayas | ||
| Golki | Name is used for two one-string instruments. One version is a drum-zither or zither-drum called "golki" in Nepal. In India, it is called Ektara. The Nepalese use "ektara" for a different instrument. The golki can be drummed or it can have the strings plucked. By squeezing the bamboo lathes, the tone can be shifted. | ||||
| Ektara | एकतारे | The ektara in Nepal is a one-string lute, played in a rhythmic drone. It is used by Yogis and wandering holy men to accompany their singing and prayers. Bamboo stick is inserted through side of wooden bowl and the top of the bowl is covered with deerskin. Has a single string running from a peg at the top, down the stick/neck, across a bridge on the deerhide soundboard, and is tied at the "spike" where the stick pokes through the bowl. The instrument's string is plucked with the index-finger's fingernail. | |||
| Piwancha | Erhu-style fiddle, 2-strings, extinct but being revived. | ||||
| Name in English | Name in Nepali | Description | Ethnic Connections | Town / Region | Picture |
| Sarangi (Nepali) | Four-stringed fiddle, similar to Indian Sarangi. | ||||
| Tamaura | One-string lute with coconut resonator, similar to Urni. | ||||
| Tungana or Tungna | Lute, four strings, plucked with plectrum. Overall length of 75 cm. Sheepskin soundboard. Carving of a shardul on peghead. Accompanies singing, dancing. A shardul is a mythical creature, part lion and part something else. Variations:
| Himalayan area | |||
| Urni | One-string fiddle. A coconut resonator impaled by a stick is covered at one end with goatskin, to form a drum-like object. The drumhead is pierced in the center and a string run through the hole. One end of the string is wrapped around a rod, to keep it from coming out of the hole. The other end is held in the musician's hand. To play, the body is held under the arm, while that same arm pulls the string tight. The other hand plucks the string. The instrument is similar to the Anandalahari of Bengal, Gubguba and Khamak. Played in festivals and dances. | Newar | Kathmandu Valley |
Tube zithers and raft zithers
- Bhante Maadal. 2-String bamboo drum zither.
- Tunjaai. Tube zithers connected together into a single instrument, a raft zither, hanging from the shoulder and plucked with a plectrum. Made from Thysanolaena maxima.
- Yalambar / Yalamber Baja
Unidentified
- Baya
- Dafali
- Ghangling
- Girnal
- Handiya
- Horel
- Ilambu
- Irlung pipari
- Jhajhar
- Kaha
- Khusyaha
- kumuna
- Lawa
- Paluwa
- Paschima
- Tahinahi
- Tunguna