Ekatantri veena

The eka-tantrī vīṇā was a medieval tube-zither veena in India, with a single string and one or more gourd resonators.

Whatever the origins, Indian influence on musical culture in Southeast Asia is recorded in the archaeological remains of past civilizations.

Iconography can't show whether the rods or bodies are hollow, and researchers have had to look for clues in literature.

Based on definitions from Indian literature, the unifying criterion is that both have a single string and a gourd resonator.

[7] For the eka-tantri vina Śārṅgadeva described an instrument made of Khadirah wood, less than a yard long (alternative translation says 3 arm lengths long), with a dandam "a stetched palm" (about 5-8 inches) in circumference, and 1.5 inches narrower on the bottom where a yali might be carved.

[3] Patrick Kersale applied the label ekatantri to a 10th century tube zither from the Pala Empire, a long instrument with a squared base and raised bridge-like piece (that lengthened the time the string would sound).

The gourd on the ālāpiṇī vīṇā was cut to form a cup or bowl, the opening of which could be placed against the musician's body while playing, creating a "closed resonance chamber".

On the eka-tantrī vīṇā and later Kinarri vina the gourd (bottom intact) used for the resonance chamber rested over the musician's shoulder.

These latter two might have a second or third gourd added further down, creating the modern kinarri vina and rudra veena[2] In his book Bharatiya Sangeet Vadya, Lalmani Misra used Śārṅgadeva's work to describe the Eka-tantri.

The body of the instrument, was 3 arm-lengths long and a hand's breadth wide, hollowed out to form a tube, with a bore of 1.5 forefinger widths.

On the instrument's lower end, the bridge (kakubh) is attached, its surface not flat but rounded like a tortoise shell.