Ravanahatha

A ravanahatha (variant names: ravanhatta, rawanhattha, ravanastron, ravana hasta veena) is an ancient bowed, stringed instrument, used in India, Sri Lanka, and surrounding areas.

[1] The ravanahatha's sound box may be a gourd, a halved coconut shell or hollowed-out cylinder of wood, with a membrane of stretched goat or other hide.

In Indian tradition, the ravanahatha is believed to have originated among the Hela people of Lanka during the time of the legendary king Ravana, after whom the instrument is supposedly named.

The Hela people, however, had only settled in Sri Lanka around 500 BCE, and had not found any trace of an earlier civilization, only groups of tribals whom they called 'yakshas'.

[3][4] In modern times, the instrument has been revived by Sri Lankan composer and violinist Dinesh Subasinghe and used in several of his compositions, including Rawan Nada and the Buddhist oratorio Karuna Nadee.